Herbst fires his way into the Xfinity Playoffs with masterful Indy win

In one of the most dramatic NASCAR Xfinity Series finishes in recent memory at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Riley Herbst took the lead in the final corner of the final lap to claim his first victory of the season in Saturday’s Pennzoil 250 — formally punching his ticket to the 2024 Playoffs.

Three different drivers led the final three laps in the series’ return to the famous speedway’s 2.5-mile oval after four years of competing on the track’s road course. Ultimately, the 25-year-old Herbst drove his No. 98 SHR Ford sideways exiting Turn 4 to negotiate his way past veteran Aric Almirola and race off to a 0.167s win over his SHR teammate Cole Custer and Almirola.

Custer led lap 98. Almirola led lap 99. Herbst held the lead for the most important, lap 100. The three were three-wide on the white flag lap, signaling one lap to-go with Almirola taking the white flag out front. Herbst caught him and dove low to claim the lead coming out of Turn 4 on the next lap and Custer raced past Almirola in the closing feet to give SHR a one-two finish.

“This is Indianapolis; this is the most famous race track in the world and it’s an honor just to walk into the place, let alone win,” said Herbst, whose only other series win was in at his hometown Las Vegas track last year. “We’ve had speed all year and I felt like we could win. I just messed up on restarts a little bit but just continued to work and continued to work.

“I’m proud of these guys. Proud of Stewart-Haas Racing. Obviously, with the news of us (the current Stewart-Haas Racing team) shutting down, these guys could have given up on me and Cole but they stuck behind me and Cole and it’s back-to-back wins for Stewart-Haas Racing.”

The teammates combined to lead 77 of the 100 laps with Custer’s 47 laps out front most in the field. Custer, Saturday’s polesitter was smiling when he climbed out of his No. 00 SHR Ford and was the first to congratulate Herbst.

“What an awesome day for SHR, two cars up front all day, qualified one-two and finished one-two, so an unbelievable day for SHR,” said Custer, who started his day with a big announcement that he would be driving for the new single-car Haas Factory Team in the NASCAR Cup Series next year.

The defending series champion – who claimed his first win of 2024 last week at Pocono, Pa. — continues to lead the points standings and with his second place showing now has a 56-point advantage over JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier, who finished ninth Saturday.

The former full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver Almirola, 40, making his first start in the Xfinity Series since May 11, finished third in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. The former Stewart-Haas Racing driver was also among the first to congratulate Herbst on the hard-fought victory.

“They (Herbst and Custer) were the class of the field but I knew if they got racing there was going to be an opportunity to steal it and I got the lead and thought and just got too tight in [Turn] 3 and he got back inside me,” Almirola said, adding, “Those guys deserve it. I know all the guys on the team. They’re a great group of guys and proud and happy for [them].”

Rookie Shane van Gisbergen, the former Australian Supercars champion, finished a strong fourth, making his way forward after opting for fresh tires on a final pit stop and turning in an inspired final restart with 10 laps remaining. A three-time road course winner this season, that fourth place was his best finish on an oval since a third-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway in February.

“It’s tough and I’m obviously still learning and I’m probably still a bit too conservative but I feel like the car got better and I got better,” van Gisbergen said. “This Xfinity Series is so fun, the way the cars move around and the way they’re all sliding.

“I had a blast.”

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Sheldon Creed finished fifth. Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill, who started from the rear of the field after some last minute adjustments on his Chevrolet, rallied to a sixth-place finish.

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series regular Daniel Dye was seventh, followed by two-time Indy winner A.J. Allmendinger, Allgaier and 21-year-old Carson Kvapil, who was making his sixth start of the year driving for JR Motorsports.

It was perhaps a fittingly dramatic ending to a race that got off to a tumultuous start with a 12-car accident taking multiple cars out of contention early. JR Motorsports Sam Mayer, a two-time race winner this year, spun out after making a three-wide move in Turn 3 collecting multiple cars and damaging more as they tried to avoid.

Full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver Josh Berry, who was driving the No. 15 AM Racing Ford was among those collected in the melee and was officially scored last. He and Mayer were unable to complete one lap.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chandler Smith retired on lap 37, his No. 81 Toyota never able to overcome the damage from the first lap incident.

RSS Racing’s Ryan Sieg holds a slim three-point edge over JR Motorsports’ Sammy Smith for the final points Playoff transfer position with six races remaining to set the 12-driver Playoff field.

NASCAR will be taking a two-week sporting break during the Olympics with the Xfinity Series returning to competition Aug. 17 at Michigan International Speedway for the Cabo Wabo 250 (USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). John Hunter Nemechek won the 2023 race.

RESULTS

Story originally appeared on Racer