Las Vegas native wins at hometown track in 1st NASCAR victory — PHOTOS
Riley Herbst still had one lap to go when he thanked his entire No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing team on his in-car radio.
Ahead by nearly 15 seconds and silent for most of the race as his spotter updated Herbst on his advantage over second place, the emotions of his first career NASCAR win becoming a reality hit the Las Vegas native as he made his final lap around the 1½-mile oval at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Herbst led a race-high 103 laps on his way to claiming the win at Saturday’s Alsco Uniforms 302 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at his home track. It’s Herbst’s first win in any of NASCAR’s top three national touring series in his 139th start in the Xfinity Series. Herbst was second three times previously in the Xfinity Series.
“It’s such a relief and just better than I could have imagined,” said Herbst, who jumped up and down on the hood of his Monster Energy Drink Ford on the front stretch in celebration after the win and climbed the fence.
Herbst dominated the race. His 14.95-second margin of victory over second-place John Hunter Nemechek is the largest for a winner at an Xfinity Series race at LVMS, beating the previous mark of 8.4 seconds set by Jeff Burton in 2002.
“Everybody said I couldn’t do it, won’t win, not good enough. I just flat-out beat everyone,” Herbst said. “I’m pretty happy with myself, for Stewart-Haas Racing for sticking behind me. This is a huge weight off my shoulders. I’m so relieved to be here in victory lane in my own city.”
Stewart-Haas Racing announced Thursday that Herbst would return to the No. 98 car for the 2024 Xfinity Series season. Saturday’s win marked Stewart-Haas Racing’s 100th victory across NASCAR’s national series.
“Stewart-Haas Racing’s 100th win: Riley Herbst,” the 24-year-old said with a grin. “Did you ever think that would happen? … That will be in the history books. I’m grateful for everybody at the organization. Through all the ups and downs, they’ve been behind me.”
Herbst’s family has nearly 50 years of racing history in off-road racing in the desert across the Southwest. Herbst’s grandfather Jerry, who founded Terrible Herbst convenience stores, began the family legacy. His sons Troy (Riley’s father), Ed and Tim have continued it through Terrible Herbst Motorsports.
The family was inducted into the Southern Nevada Sports Hall of Fame in 2014.
“They’re everything,” Herbst said. “They’ve been the most supportive to me personally. Without them, I’d be in pretty dark places for sure.”
Herbst spent four seasons with Joe Gibbs Racing, spending two seasons in the ARCA Menards Series before joining the Xfinity Series full-time in 2020.
In 2021, Herbst made the move to Stewart-Haas Racing to drive the No. 98 Ford, which won nine races in 2020 with Chase Briscoe, for NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart. Herbst is a client for 2014 Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick’s KHI Management Group.
“Kevin’s been instrumental this year,” Herbst said of Harvick’s guidance. “He’s helped me on and off the racetrack become a better person and a better racecar driver. He’s meant a tremendous amount, and I’m just so grateful that he chooses to work with me and try to help me grow as a racecar driver.”
Herbst did not qualify for this year’s NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs but is hopeful that with the weight lifted off him, the win can springboard him to an Xfinity Series championship run next season.
“That was a huge disappointment in my book,” Herbst said of missing the playoffs. “I walked in the garage with your head down every race weekend, just so embarrassed. But my guys in the No. 98 team have faith in me, and they told me we’re going to win before this year’s out. And we did. I’m just so in debt to all of the guys.”
Enjoying Vegas
The pressure of the NASCAR playoffs hasn’t deterred some drivers from taking advantage of activities around the city away from the race track.
Tyler Reddick enjoyed a U2 show at the Sphere on Friday night, and like nearly every spectator at the venue, was taken aback by the state-of-the-art venue.
“To see (U2) perform at the Sphere is pretty wild,” Reddick said. “For those that haven’t been there, I’d say you have to go. It’s quite the experience. It’s hard to put into words. The whole venue is very, just cutting edge and future-feeling.”
“It was taxing on the eyes,” he added. “It felt like I watched 24 hours straight of television, but it was certainly worth it. I enjoyed it. It was quite the experience.”
Reddick also got a glimpse at the setup on the Strip for Formula One’s Las Vegas Grand Prix. He said the event might be out of his price range,
For the first time in the history of NASCAR, the Cup Series race on a street course through the city of Chicago in July. The driver of the No 45 Toyota, co-owned by Michael Jordan, shared some locals’ feelings that the construction has been “insane.”
“They’re gonna get some new roads out of it, right?” Reddick said. “That’s cool, but the traffic — I should have known right when we landed it was gonna be a little crazier.”
Back up cars
Chase Elliott didn’t qualify for this year’s playoffs in the driver’s championship, but his No. 9 team is still alive in the owner’s championship.
Elliott got off to a rough start in the Round of 8 opener as he wrecked in Turn 2 during practice and will have to start last as a result of going to a backup car.
“Just cut a right rear tire,” Elliott said. “Not sure why. I had run 15 laps, maybe I ran too long. It’s a bummer.”
Daniel Suarez also wrecked during practice and will join Elliott in the back of the field as his team went to a backup car as well.
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.
