Riley Herbst wins NASCAR Xfinity thriller at Indianapolis

Riley Herbst defeated Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Cole Custer and returning Joe Gibbs Racing veteran Aric Almirola in a thrilling three-way battle over the final laps in the NASCAR Xfinity Series return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval.

Custer has over a second and a half lead with 10 laps remaining but Herbst began to methodically carve into the deficit. He was there inside five laps remaining. Herbst got to the inside of Custer but couldn’t complete the pass and their combined stalled momentum led to Almirola taking them both three-wide taking the white flag.

Herbst gathered it back up and retook the lead over the final corners to claim his second career Xfinity Series and first since breaking through at his home track Las Vegas last October.

“This is Indianapolis. This is the most famous racetrack in the world and it is an honor just to walk in this place, let alone win. We had speed all year and I felt like we could win but I just messed up on the restarts a little bit,” said Herbst. “It was a good fight. I thought I had Cole clear and then he slid bottom of three with the 20 and I thought it was going to be tough. I just continued to work.

“This is hallowed ground. This is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Every person in the world wants to race here, and I won here. I don’t care if it is the Xfinity Series, the Cup Series or the go-kart track out back. This is the Brickyard. This is the coolest racetrack in the world. I love you guys. This is pretty sweet.”

Combined, the Stewart-Haas Racing pair led 77 of the 100 laps en route to a 1-2 finish for the cars that will soon become Factory Haas next season. Custer announced that he would return to the Cup Series with that organization next season while it has also offered Herbst a continued ride in the Xfinity Series, one that he may forgo in lieu of an Cup opportunity himself.

Despite the teammates door slamming coming to the white flag, Custer was amongst the first to congratulate his teammate.

“I mean, you could see us beating doors down the front stretch,” Custer said. “You are going to do everything it takes to win Indy. I was doing everything I could to get this thing to turn. I needed one less lap. I felt like it was kind of a disadvantage to lead all day. If you were in second you would get your car looser which would save your tires throughout a run. Whereas if you were leading you would just get so tight after 15 laps. What an awesome day for SHR. Two cars at the front all day. We qualified 1-2 and finished 1-2, an unbelievable day for SHR. I hope we keep this rolling.”

Custer led a race high 44 laps.

Almirola, Shane van Gisbergen and Sheldon Creed completed the top five.

“I thought that was our only chance if we were going to steal one,” Almriola said. “The Stewart-Haas (Racing) cars were the class of the field all weekend. I thought that was my chance to try, when they (Riley Herbst and Cole Custer) got side-by-side and make something happen. I thought it was going to work out. I thought I was going to get clean air and was going to be okay, but Riley’s car was so good, and he got to my left rear and got me tight. It happened earlier in that run. I’d get so tight when he’d get to my left rear. Hats off to those guys, they did a great job. Proud of everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing. Tyler (Allen, crew chief) and the all the guys on this 20 team. They just did as great job. Proud of the effort and dang, that hurts.”

The race, which featured a reduced horsepower but low downforce configuration, resulted in a handful of incidents throughout the race.

The first happened on the first lap when contact between Sam Mayer and AJ Allmendinger resulted in a 12-car accident that eliminated Mayer and Josh Berry, while damaging several other cars.

The other major incident occurred on Lap 84 when a flat tire, due to contact with Daniel Dye, dropped Anthony Alfredo directly into the path traffic and collected Parker Retzlaff and Josh Williams in Turn 1.

Cuter how holds a 56-point advantage in the regular-season point standings over Justin Allgaier, with Austin Hill, Chandler Smith and Herbst competing the top five. Ryan Sieg holds a three point advantage over Sammy Smith for the final provisional playoff spot with six races remaining to set the 12-driver Playoff field.

Results

1. Riley Herbst, No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
2. Cole Custer, No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
3. Aric Almirola, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
4. Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
5. Sheldon Creed, No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
6. Austin Hill, No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
7. Daniel Dye, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
8. AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
9. Justin Allgaier, No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet
10. Carson Kvapil, No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet
11. Ryan Sieg, No. 39 RSS Racing Ford
12. Parker Kligerman, No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevrolet
13. Jesse Love, No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
14. Conor Daly, No. 26 Sam Hunt Racing Toyota
15. Brandon Jones, No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet
16. Matt DiBenedetto, No. 38 RSS Racing Ford
17. Joe Graf Jr., No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
18. Sammy Smith, No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet
19. Jeb Burton, No. 27 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet
20. Leland Honeyman Jr., No. 42 Young’s Motorsports Chevrolet
21. Brennan Poole, No. 44 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet
22. Kyle Sieg, No. 28 RSS Racing Ford
23. Ryan Ellis, No. 43 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet
24. Joey Gase, No. 35 Joey Gase Motorsports Toyota
25. Kyle Weatherman, No. 91 DGM Racing Chevrolet
26. David Starr, No. 14 SS Green Light Racing Ford
27. Josh Bilicki, No. 92 DGM Racing Chevrolet
28. BJ McLeod, No. 13 Motorsports Business Management Chevrolet
29. Blaine Perkins, No. 29 RSS Racing Ford
30. Jeremy Clements, No. 51 Jeremy Clements Racing Chevrolet
31. Garrett Smithley, No. 45 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet
32. Greg Van Alst, No. 07 SS Green Light Racing Ford
33. Chandler Smith, No. 81 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
34. Anthony Alfredo, No. 5 Our Motorsports Chevrolet
35. Parker Retzlaff, No. 31 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet
36. Josh Williams, No. 11 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
37. Sam Mayer, No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet
38. Josh Berry, No. 15 AM Racing Ford

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