Yahoo Autos Herbst looking to build on road course speed at Watkins Glen
Last Saturday afternoon on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Stewart Haas Racing’s Riley Herbst drifted around the top five for most of the Xfinity Series race before a pit road speeding miscue relegated him to 12th. Although disappointed with the result, Herbst and crew did leave Indiana confident in the road course speed in the No. 98 Ford ahead of this weekend’s race at Watkins Glen.
“I like Watkins Glen,” said Herbst. “It’s very, very difficult with just how high speed everything is. Watkins Glen is not your typical road course at all. It’s just very high speed and with super high grip. It’s also a very big track-position race. It is a fun track for me as a driver. You really have to think about each turn so you’re not getting yourself into trouble. Each of the seven turns is unique, so you just have to be on top of your game every time you go there.
“I’m excited to head back there after a strong run last year, and given the speed we’ve had on road courses this season. We’ve had top-three speed every week, so now it’s just about avoiding mistakes and having a perfect race. Hoping the No. 98 Monster Energy team can do just that this weekend.”
Road course racing has been kind to Herbst throughout the 2023 Xfinity Series season. Having earned top-15 finishes in four of the six Xfinity road course races thus far in 2023, Herbst has recently gained momentum on those sorts of tracks, circuits earning a fifth place finish at Road America as well as the 12th in Indianapolis last Saturday.
“I’ve been learning and I’ve been getting better, for sure,” said Herbst of his road course racing. “I’m starting to pick it up. It’s just such a big challenge and that’s what I love about it. We even had a shot to win that race last weekend at Indy, and then I had a mental mistake and sped on pit road which took us out of race contention. We were running about third to fourth place all day and we were going to have a shot to win. I just sped on pit road. Hopefully we can take that Indy speed into this weekend.”
Last June, Stewart-Haas Racing made a major move inside the No. 98 Ford Mustang team when new crew chief Davin Restivo was brought into the fold to work closely with Herbst. An immediate connection made, with a bump in on-track performance,.
“Our cars have been great and fast,” Herbst said. “We had a crew chief change. My old crew chief, Richard Boswell, moved up to the Cup series and I got a new guy named Davin Restivo and he’s done a really good job and it has been enjoyable working with him.”
Including Watkins Glen this Saturday, there are only four races remaining until the start of the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs. Hovering right inside the top 12 and safely above the cut line with Watkins Glen, Daytona, Darlington and Kansas yet to run, Herbst is confident he and the No. 98 Mustang are right where they need to be.
“I’m comfortable with where we are it as far as the Playoffs,” said Herbst, who has competed twice at 2.45-mile Watkins Glen previously with finishes of 13th in 2021 and seventh in 2022. “I like to win and I feel like we have fast enough cars and a good enough team to go do it. This series is very competitive and tough, so it has been a joy to do this, for sure. As far as the playoffs and beginning here at Watkins Glen, we need to execute and not speed on pit road on my behalf. We just need to do what we’ve been doing and just finish these races. We’ll be fast no matter what track we go to whether it be Watkins Glen or Daytona. We’re ready.
“The goal is definitely to hit our stride during this later half of the season. We’ve been working really hard and we’re excited for the playoff season to come. We’re 11th in points. I’d really like to get a top five here at Watkins Glen tomorrow, for sure. That’s a very realistic goal for us this weekend and I think we can achieve it.
“From there we’ll go to Daytona. I’m excited. I love Daytona. It’s such a cool atmosphere and I think we’ll have a really fast car there. Then comes Darlington. Darlington is fun. It is such a unique race track. There is nothing like it on the schedule and we are looking forward to that race as well. We’re excited. We think we can capitalize here and hit the ground running.”
