Riley Herbst grabs Xfinity Series win at Indianapolis

Justin Casterline/Getty Images)

July 20, 2024

 

By Holly Cain

NASCAR Wire Service

 

SPEEDWAY, Ind. – 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 .167-second win over his SHR teammate Cole Custer and Almirola.

 

Custer led Lap 98. Almirola led Lap 99. And 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 1-2 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 fulltime 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] three 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 those guys.”

 

Rookie Shane Van Gisbergen, the former Australian SuperCars champion, finished a strong fourth-place, 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.

 

Fulltime 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.

 

The sport of 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.

 

NASCAR Xfinity Series Race - Pennzoil 250 Presented by Advance Auto Parts

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Speedway, Indiana

Saturday, July 20, 2024

 

                1. (2)  Riley Herbst, Ford, 100.

                2. (1)  Cole Custer, Ford, 100.

                3. (3)  Aric Almirola, Toyota, 100.

                4. (23)  Shane Van Gisbergen #, Chevrolet, 100.

                5. (12)  Sheldon Creed, Toyota, 100.

                6. (14)  Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 100.

                7. (22)  Daniel Dye(i), Chevrolet, 100.

                8. (8)  AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 100.

                9. (9)  Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 100.

                10. (7)  Carson Kvapil, Chevrolet, 100.

                11. (27)  Ryan Sieg, Ford, 100.

                12. (38)  Parker Kligerman, Chevrolet, 100.

                13. (15)  Jesse Love #, Chevrolet, 100.

                14. (16)  Conor Daly, Toyota, 100.

                15. (6)  Brandon Jones, Chevrolet, 100.

                16. (29)  Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 100.

                17. (17)  Joe Graf Jr, Toyota, 100.

                18. (21)  Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 100.

                19. (11)  Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 100.

                20. (25)  Leland Honeyman #, Chevrolet, 100.

                21. (30)  Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 100.

                22. (31)  Kyle Sieg, Ford, 100.

                23. (34)  Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 100.

                24. (35)  Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 100.

                25. (28)  Kyle Weatherman, Chevrolet, 100.

                26. (36)  David Starr, Ford, 100.

                27. (32)  Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 100.

                28. (33)  BJ McLeod, Chevrolet, 100.

                29. (24)  Blaine Perkins, Ford, 100.

                30. (18)  Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 99.

                31. (26)  Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 97.

                32. (37)  Greg Van Alst, Chevrolet, Ignition, 91.

                33. (13)  Chandler Smith, Toyota, 86.

                34. (5)  Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, Accident, 83.

                35. (20)  Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, Accident, 83.

                36. (19)  Josh Williams, Chevrolet, Accident, 83.

                37. (4)  Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, Accident, 0.

                38. (10)  Josh Berry(i), Ford, Accident, 0.

 

Average Speed of Race Winner:  101.26 mph.

Time of Race:  2 Hrs, 28 Mins, 8 Secs. Margin of Victory:  0.167 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  7 for 29 laps.

Lead Changes:  12 among 6 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   C. Custer 1-17;R. Herbst 18-31;B. Jones 32-41;C. Custer 42-57;R. Sieg 58-61;A. Almirola 62-65;R. Herbst 66-71;A. Allmendinger 72-75;C. Custer 76-80;R. Herbst 81-89;C. Custer 90-98;A. Almirola 99;R. Herbst 100.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Cole Custer 4 times for 47 laps; Riley Herbst 4 times for 30 laps; Brandon Jones 1 time for 10 laps; Aric Almirola 2 times for 5 laps; Ryan Sieg 1 time for 4 laps; AJ Allmendinger 1 time for 4 laps.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 98,16,39,9,7,00,48,20,88,38

Stage #2 Top Ten: 39,20,98,16,7,00,97,21,42,18

 

 

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Cole Custer earns his first win of the 2024 season at Pocono Raceway

Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images

July 13, 2024

 

By Holly Cain

NASCAR Wire Service

 

Reigning NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Cole Custer claimed his first win of the 2024 season Saturday beating his closest championship challenger Justin Allgaier to the Explore the Pocono Mountains 225 checkered flag and giving Ford its first series win of the year.

 

Custer’s No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang took the lead from Allgaier on a re-start with nine laps remaining and then held off the JR Motorsports Chevy by .670-second to secure his 14th career victory in a thrilling finish at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. He becomes first driver to win multiple NASCAR Xfinity Series races at the historic 2.5-mile track – answering his 2019 win.

 

“You just try to manage it the best you can but it’s kind of the luck of the draw who gets the best push,’’ a smiling Custer said of having to hold off perennial championship contender Allgaier and third place finisher NASCAR Cup Series regular William Byron in the closing laps.

 

“That was some Doug Yates horsepower right there. We definitely had it on the straightaways and man, I just can’t say enough about these guys. They’ve worked so hard this whole year and just haven’t had that final result. To finally get it, is so awesome.’’

 

Allgaier led a race best 30 laps of the 90-lap race with the 25-year old Californian Custer out front for 25 laps – the two drivers each winning a stage. For Allgaier, his Stage 1 victory was a series best 11th but a pit road penalty during the ensuing pit stop forced him to work his way back up through the field.

 

And even with all the impressive race statistics and compelling comeback storyline Saturday, it was missing out on the trophy after such a strong showing that stuck with Allgaier when he climbed out of his Chevrolet.

 

“Really proud of everyone at Junior Motorsports, just really stinks to come out of here second,’’ Allgaier said. “Led so many laps here and feel like same result every time, just not able to go to Victory Lane. … just came up a little short and it’s going to sting for a little while.’’

This year’s Daytona 500 winner and the 2017 Xfinity Series champion Byron was making his third Xfinity Series start of the season and kept the field honest leading 17 laps.  

 

Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Sheldon Creed and Taylor Gray rounded out the Pocono top-five. Kaulig Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger, Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill, Big Machine Racing’s Parker Kligerman and JR Motorsports teammates Sammy Smith and Sam Mayer rounded out the top-10.

 

Custer extended his lead atop the Xfinity Series championship and now holds a 51-point advantage on Allgaier. With seven races remaining to set the 12-driver Playoff field, Smith holds a 23-point edge over Ryan Sieg for that 12th position. 

 

The NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to action Saturday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the Pennzoil 250 (3:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).  Ty Gibbs won the race last year on the Indianapolis Grand Prix Circuit. Kyle Busch won the last NASCAR Xfinity Series race on the famed 2.5-mile oval in 2019.

 

---30—

 

 

NASCAR Xfinity Series Race - Explore The Pocono Mountains 225

Pocono Raceway

Long Pond, Pennsylvania

Saturday, July 13, 2024

 

                1. (8)  Cole Custer, Ford, 90.

                2. (3)  Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 90.

                3. (6)  William Byron(i), Chevrolet, 90.

                4. (1)  Sheldon Creed, Toyota, 90.

                5. (4)  Taylor Gray(i), Toyota, 90.

                6. (10)  AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 90.

                7. (11)  Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 90.

                8. (15)  Parker Kligerman, Chevrolet, 90.

                9. (9)  Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 90.

                10. (12)  Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, 90.

                11. (18)  Riley Herbst, Ford, 90.

                12. (7)  Ryan Sieg, Ford, 90.

                13. (2)  Brandon Jones, Chevrolet, 90.

                14. (16)  Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 90.

                15. (5)  Chandler Smith, Toyota, 90.

                16. (25)  Corey Heim(i), Toyota, 90.

                17. (20)  Daniel Dye(i), Chevrolet, 90.

                18. (22)  Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 90.

                19. (34)  Ryan Truex, Toyota, 90.

                20. (33)  Kyle Sieg, Ford, 90.

                21. (17)  Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 90.

                22. (19)  Jesse Love #, Chevrolet, 90.

                23. (21)  Kyle Weatherman, Chevrolet, 90.

                24. (23)  Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 90.

                25. (28)  Leland Honeyman #, Chevrolet, 90.

                26. (27)  Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 90.

                27. (14)  Josh Berry(i), Ford, 90.

                28. (37)  Thomas Annunziata, Chevrolet, 90.

                29. (31)  Mason Massey(i), Ford, 90.

                30. (24)  Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 90.

                31. (26)  Shane Van Gisbergen #, Chevrolet, 90.

                32. (13)  Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, 89.

                33. (32)  Patrick Emerling, Chevrolet, 89.

                34. (35)  Blaine Perkins, Ford, Suspension, 72.

                35. (38)  Stephen Mallozzi(i), Chevrolet, Engine, 68.

                36. (30)  Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, Accident, 47.

                37. (29)  Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, Electrical, 8.

                38. (36)  Dawson Cram(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 1.

 

Average Speed of Race Winner:  105.113 mph.

Time of Race:  2 Hrs, 8 Mins, 26 Secs. Margin of Victory:  0.670 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  8 for 30 laps.

Lead Changes:  10 among 7 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   S. Creed 1-7;J. Allgaier 8-22;J. Love # 23-25;C. Custer 26-41;W. Byron(i) 42-50;J. Love # 51-54;W. Byron(i) 55-61;A. Hill 62;R. Sieg 63-66;J. Allgaier 67-81;C. Custer 82-90.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Justin Allgaier 2 times for 30 laps; Cole Custer 2 times for 25 laps; William Byron(i) 2 times for 16 laps; Sheldon Creed 1 time for 7 laps; Jesse Love # 2 times for 7 laps; Ryan Sieg 1 time for 4 laps; Austin Hill 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 7,00,81,17,16,21,98,39,8,18

Stage #2 Top Ten: 00,81,21,98,39,16,18,8,26,7

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Surprise no more, Shane van Gisbergen captures battle-tested NASCAR Xfinity Series Chicago victory

 

 

Jared C. Tilton/getty images

By Holly Cain

NASCAR Wire Service

 

CHICAGO – Shane van Gisbergen put on a master class Saturday afternoon, winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ The Loop 110 at the Chicago Street Race. The New Zealander led early and, again, led late to claim his third consecutive series road course win and second race win on the 2.2-mile downtown Chicago streets.

 

Fans who experienced monsoon-like rains at last year’s inaugural NASCAR visit to the Windy City could not have asked for a more ideal summer afternoon on Saturday. People in the packed grandstands – nearly half taking in their first NASCAR event according to Chicago Street Race President Julie Guise - enjoyed blue skies, a comfortable breeze and temperatures in the mid-70s.

 

And they enjoyed a highly competitive spirited race, with van Gisbergen and Californian Kyle Larson dicing it up, door-to-door, front-fender to back bumper from the drop of the green flag and then van Gisbergen charging through the field to claim the lead again in the final laps.

 

In the end, the 35-year old van Gisbergen got his No. 97 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet around Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs with two laps remaining and charged off to his series best third win of the year by a healthy 1.287 seconds over Gibbs and Larson.

 

“That’s awesome, what a great race,’’ said a grinning van Gisbergen after kicking a rugby ball into the cheering crowd as is his established NASCAR victory celebration.

 

“It was pretty wild there at the end, but I can’t thank the Kaulig Racing guys enough. It was great racing to start with Kyle [Larson]. He was really good on the restarts and we made our car better with the second set of tires, but whooo, that was fun at the end passing all those guys. Had some great racing with everyone.’’

 

Van Gisbergen who also claimed road course wins at Portland and Sonoma, Calif. led 14 laps as did Richard Childress Racing’s Jesse Love – most on the afternoon. Big Machine Racing’s Parker Kligerman finished fourth; his best result of the season and Love was fifth.

 

The two champion drivers – Larson and van Gisbergen - set the tone immediately, exchanging the lead sometimes three and four times in a single lap from the drop of the green flag. Larson, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion, led the first six laps and van Gisbergen, a three-time Australian Supercars Series champion who won last year’s inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race in Chicago, led the next nine laps to claim the Stage 1 win in the process.

 

“It was cool we were waving at each other, thumbs up,’’ Van Gisbergen said of racing Larson early. “Really respectful but big moves. He was amazing on the brakes and on the bumps. Really cool. I learned a lot and he probably learned a lot off me. Hope to race him again for the win tomorrow.’’

 

Larson, who will start from pole position in Sunday’s Grant Park 165 NASCAR Cup Series race, had been looking forward to the chance to race up front with van Gisbergen.

 

“I was having a blast,’’ Larson said. “Obviously I wanted to win today but I wanted to learn more than anything. I wanted to get to battle with him because he’s just really good at creating shapes and angles and passing. That was an objective of mine and the first opportunity I got, I wanted to get racing because I just didn’t know if I’d have another opportunity to race with him.

 

“My car seemed to be a little better than his for a lap or two which helped me get by him and was able to protect and stuff but he was so much better than me.’’

 

Varying pit stop strategies adjusted the field mid-race. Many – such as Love – pitted during the first stage break at Lap 15. Van Gisbergen, Gibbs and Larson pit during a caution period later on lap 24. That shuffled the field putting those three early frontrunners playing catch-up in the closing laps.

 

With six laps to go and van Gisbergen making his way forward, his Chevy was hit from behind by Sam Mayer’s Chevy in the Turn 12 corner forcing van Gisbergen’s Chevrolet to scrape the wall. He fell off the bumper of then race leaders, Gibbs and Love but stayed in the third position.

 

He got around the two with three laps remaining. And Gibbs said looking back, he probably should have raced van Gisbergen a little more aggressively in the final laps

 

“We had a bad pit stop and I feel like I used my stuff up a lot to get back through the field,’’ said Gibbs, whose team had a problem on the tire change. “I’d say it would have been close in the end though.’’

 

Connor Mosack, Austin Hill, NASCAR Cup Series regular Joey Logano, Justin Allgaier and Austin Green rounded out the top 10. It was the first Xfinity Series start for Logano since 2019. It was the third top 10 in four career series starts for the 23-year old Green – all coming on road courses.

 

Last year’s Chicago race winner, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer, finished 18th despite dealing with various issues throughout the afternoon – including a pit stop penalty. He now holds a 38-point lead over JR Motorsports driver Justin Allgaier in the standings. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chandler Smith dropped to third place in the championship after finishing last – 38th – with an engine problem suffered only five laps into the race.

 

Van Gisbergen’s effort now gives him a series best 17 Playoff points and his three wins are most in the series this year.

 

The NASCAR Xfinity Series travels back east to Pocono (Pa.) Raceway for next Saturday’s Explore the Pocono Mountains 225 (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).  Hill is the defending race winner.

 

NASCAR Xfinity Series Race - The Loop 110

Chicago Street Race

Chicago, Illinois

Saturday, July 6, 2024

 

                1. (1)  Shane Van Gisbergen #, Chevrolet, 50.

                2. (4)  Ty Gibbs(i), Toyota, 50.

                3. (2)  Kyle Larson(i), Chevrolet, 50.

                4. (7)  Parker Kligerman, Chevrolet, 50.

                5. (8)  Jesse Love #, Chevrolet, 50.

                6. (3)  Connor Mosack(i), Chevrolet, 50.

                7. (13)  Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 50.

                8. (15)  Joey Logano(i), Ford, 50.

                9. (36)  Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 50.

                10. (19)  Austin Green, Chevrolet, 50.

                11. (11)  AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 50.

                12. (30)  Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 50.

                13. (14)  Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 50.

                14. (28)  Kyle Weatherman, Chevrolet, 50.

                15. (23)  Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 50.

                16. (22)  Ryan Sieg, Ford, 50.

                17. (32)  Brandon Jones, Chevrolet, 50.

                18. (10)  Cole Custer, Ford, 50.

                19. (5)  Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, 50.

                20. (25)  Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 50.

                21. (27)  Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 50.

                22. (35)  Kyle Sieg, Ford, 50.

                23. (26)  Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 50.

                24. (29)  Blaine Perkins, Ford, 50.

                25. (6)  John Hunter Nemechek(i), Toyota, 50.

                26. (37)  Sheldon Creed, Toyota, 50.

                27. (31)  Daniel Suarez(i), Chevrolet, 50.

                28. (20)  Riley Herbst, Ford, Overheating, 47.

                29. (16)  Alex Labbe, Chevrolet, 45.

                30. (18)  Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 45.

                31. (21)  Leland Honeyman #, Chevrolet, Accident, 44.

                32. (17)  Preston Pardus, Chevrolet, Electrical, 38.

                33. (38)  Sage Karam, Toyota, Accident, 37.

                34. (12)  Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, Accident, 36.

                35. (33)  Andre Castro, Chevrolet, Accident, 34.

                36. (24)  Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, Accident, 34.

                37. (34)  Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, Accident, 15.

                38. (9)  Chandler Smith, Toyota, Engine, 5.

 

Average Speed of Race Winner:  56.531 mph.

Time of Race:  1 Hrs, 56 Mins, 45 Secs. Margin of Victory:  1.287 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  7 for 16 laps.

Lead Changes:  9 among 5 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   S. Van Gisbergen # 1-2;K. Larson(i) 3-5;S. Van Gisbergen # 6-10;K. Larson(i) 11-14;S. Van Gisbergen # 15-18;K. Larson(i) 19-23;S. Smith 24-25;A. Hill 26-33;J. Love # 34-47;S. Van Gisbergen # 48-50.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Jesse Love # 1 time for 14 laps; Shane Van Gisbergen # 4 times for 14 laps; Kyle Larson(i) 3 times for 12 laps; Austin Hill 1 time for 8 laps; Sammy Smith 1 time for 2 laps.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 97,17,19,88,00,16,2,21,1,48

Stage #2 Top Ten: 21,8,2,7,18,19,48,1,20,97