Riley Herbst Wins in Spectacular Fashion at Indy

Riley Herbst celebrating in Victory Lane after winning the Pennzoil 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. (Photo: Jake Barton | The Podium Finish)

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Riley Herbst has been in the middle of many circling rumors about which team he will drive for in 2025. Those rumors have not come with much positive energy from the fans.

But on Saturday, Herbst proved the naysayers wrong and won the Pennzoil 250 at Indianapolis for the biggest win of his career thus far.

With under 20 laps to go, Herbst began driving away from Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Cole Custer until a caution came out on Lap 84 for a multi-car incident.

This set up a restart on Lap 90 with the two SHR teammates on the front row going for the win and heading into Turn 2, Custer was able to clear Herbst for the lead.

Custer drove away to a good-sized lead, but Herbst ran him down and was within striking distance with two laps to go. Coming out of Turn 4 to take the white flag, Herbst got by Custer to retake the lead, but the battle opened up a lane for third-place driver Aric Almirola to make a three-wide move to take the lead.

Herbst spent the entire final lap setting Almirola up and when getting to Turn 4, he performed the same move he did on Custer to take the lead and was able to avoid getting passed for the win.

“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,” Herbst said. “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.”

Riley Herbst giving a fist pump to the crowd after winning at Indianapolis. (Photo: Jake Barton | The Podium Finish)

The win was Herbst’s first of the season and he continues to add upon a career season thus far in 2024, currently sitting in fifth place in the NASCAR Xfinity Series driver standings. Herbst began clicking in the final 10 races in 2023, including winning for the first time at Las Vegas with crew chief Davin Restivo, who joined the No. 98 team in the middle of last season.

Getting the win is also big for the team, Stewart-Haas Racing, who amidst getting ready to downsize at season’s end, are still locked in on winning another Xfinity Series title.

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

Custer, who finished runner-up after leading a race-high 44 laps was very pleased with the result for SHR, especially with how dominant the duo was from qualifying to the checkered flag.

“What an awesome day for SHR (Stewart-Haas Racing), two cars up front all day, qualified one-two and finished one-two, so an unbelievable day for SHR,” Custer said.

The defending champion also increased his lead in the regular season standings to 56 points over Justin Allgaier, who finished ninth.

Almirola, who almost stole the victory, wound up in third place in his first race back in the No. 20 car since Darlington in May.

“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 (Herbst) got back inside me,” Almirola said. “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.”

After winning at Indianapolis, Riley Herbst kisses the bricks with his team. (Photo: Ricky Martinez | The Podium Finish)

Shane van Gisbergen scored an impressive fourth place in his Indianapolis debut, feeling like he learned a lot while having a great time inside the car as well.

“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,” said van Gisbergen. “This Xfinity Series is so fun, the way the cars move around and the way they’re all sliding. I had a blast.”

Sheldon Creed rounded out the top five and is now tied for the most top-fives in the series with nine. Following Creed were Austin Hill, Daniel Dye, AJ Allmendinger, Allgaier and Carson Kvapil, who all finished inside the top 10.

Veteran Ryan Sieg also jumped ahead of Sammy Smith for the 12th and final spot on the playoff grid with just six races remaining. Sieg holds a three-point lead as the series heads into the Olympic break.

Stage 1 Top 10 Results

1. Riley Herbst
2. AJ Allmendinger
3. Ryan Sieg
4. Brandon Jones
5. Justin Allgaier
6. Cole Custer
7. Parker Kligerman
8. Aric Almirola
9. Carson Kvapil
10. Matt DiBenedetto

Stage 2 Top 10 Results

1. Ryan Sieg
2. Aric Almirola
3. Riley Herbst
4. AJ Allmendinger
5. Justin Allgaier
6. Cole Custer
7. Shane van Gisbergen
8. Austin Hill
9. Leland Honeyman
10. Sheldon Creed

Pennzoil 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Results