Herbst Finishes 38th at Darlington
Accident Ends Monster Energy Ford Team’s Day Early
Date: Sept. 4, 2021
Event: Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 (Round 24 of 33)
Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series
Location: Darlington (S.C.) Raceway (1.366-mile oval)
Format: 147 laps, broken into three stages (45 laps/45 laps/57 laps)
Start/Finish: 7th / 38th (Accident, completed 107 of 152 laps)
Point Standing: 11th (555 points, 400 out of first)
Note: Race extended five laps past its scheduled 147-lap distance due to a green-white-checkered finish.
Race Winner: Noah Gragson of JR Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Daniel Hemric of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner: Noah Gragson of JR Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Overview:
Trouble found Riley Herbst and the No. 98 Monster Energy team again in Saturday’s Sports Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway after an accident ended the team’s day early and led to a 38th-place finish. The Las Vegas native was on a mission for a good finish from the drop of the green flag. He started seventh and, despite reporting an ill-handling racecar, Herbst continued to hold his position in the opening laps. The No. 98 Monster Energy driver ran in the top-10 for a majority of Stage 1 until his loose Ford Mustang caused him to fall back to 12th, where he ended the stage. When the caution came out on lap 45, crew chief Richard Boswell brought his driver down pit road for four tires, fuel and a major air-pressure adjustment to combat the balance issues. The Monster Energy team gained him three spots on pit road to restart seventh for Stage 2 on lap 53. On the restart, Herbst fought to stay in the top-10 but reported that his Ford Mustang needed more front turn. He fell back to 12th but surged forward in the final six laps of the stage as the front end of the car started to come back to him. Ultimately, he would end up 11th in the second stage. During the stage break, Herbst came down pit road for four fresh tires, fuel and another air-pressure adjustment. Unfortunately, Herbst was forced to come down pit road a second time to work on his Ford Mustang. He restarted the final stage 29th and didn’t waste time in his drive back to the front. He broke into the top-20 on lap 106, just eight laps after the start of the final stage. On lap 107, Herbst was continuing his race to the front when the No. 44 of Tommy Joe Martins slowed on the track in front of him. With nowhere to go, the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang collided with the back of the slow car. The team would have to end its day 40 laps short of the scheduled race distance.
Riley Herbst, driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“I’m fine. I really wanted to see the replay before I comment any further, but I didn’t know why they were stopping in the center of the straightaway at Darlington. That’s kind of crazy, but I think we’re still good on points and hopefully we can go to Richmond with that cushion. Hopefully, we can gain a few more points there and then we’ll be a little bit more comfortable for Bristol. It was up-and-down, for sure. We definitely got better there at the end and we had decent pace. It’s just frustrating why somebody is stopping on the back straightaway.”
Notes:
● Noah Gragson won the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 to score his third career Xfinity Series victory, his first of the season and his first at Darlington. His margin over second-place Harrison Burton was .219 of a second.
● There were eight caution periods for a total of 41 laps.
● Twenty-seven of the 40 drivers in the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 finished on the lead lap.
● AJ Allmendinger remains the championship leader after Darlington with a one-point advantage over second-place Austin Cindric
Next Up:
The next event on the Xfinity Series schedule is the Go Bowling 250 on Saturday, Sept. 11 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway. The race starts at 2:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBCSN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
