Circa Sports Driver Rebounds After Getting Collected in Late-Race Accident
Date: Saturday, March 5
Event: Alsco Uniforms 300 (Round 3 of 33)
Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series
Location: Las Vegas Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval)
Format: 200 laps, broken into three stages (45 laps/45 laps/110 laps)
Start/Finish: 3rd / 14th (Running, completed 200 of 200 laps)
Point Standing: 7th (94 points, 50 out of first)
Race Winner: Ty Gibbs of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 1 Winner: Noah Gragson of JR Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 2 Winner: Noah Gragson of JR Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Overview:
Riley Herbst was on his way to a top-10 finish until he was collected in an accident late in the Alsco Uniforms 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series race Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Ten laps short of the 200-lap distance around the 1.5-mile oval, Herbst deftly avoided a spinning Ryan Truex and Austin Hill. Yet despite making his way around the duo that crashed in turn four, Herbst’s No. 98 Circa Sports Ford Mustang was struck by another car accelerating low on the racetrack despite NASCAR displaying the yellow caution flag. The impact sent Herbst across the track and into the frontstretch retaining wall. Nonetheless, he was able to wheel his racecar back to the pits where crew chief Richard Boswell directed repairs. Without losing a lap, the Circa Sports crew got Herbst back onto the racetrack, where the Las Vegas native was able to salvage a 14th-place finish at his hometown track.
Riley Herbst, driver of the No. 98 Circa Sports Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“We were just really tight all day long. Hopefully, we can get better. We were going to execute our gameplan, which was to just finish and get another top-10, but we got caught up in that last wreck so we finished 14th. We were past the wreck and then the yellow came out and I think some people thought it wasn’t out and they kept racing and that’s when we wrecked. I guess we still finished, but it’s frustrating with just how tight we were all day.”
Notes:
● Ty Gibbs won the Alsco Uniforms 300 to score his fifth career Xfinity Series victory, his first at Las Vegas and his first of the season.
● There were 11 caution periods for a total of 65 laps.
● Only 14 of the 38 drivers in the Alsco Uniforms 300 finished on the lead lap.
● Noah Gragson leaves Las Vegas as the championship leader with a 17-point advantage over second-place Ty Gibbs.
Next Up:
The next event on the Xfinity Series schedule is the United Rentals 200 on Saturday, March 12 at Phoenix Raceway. The race starts at 4:30 p.m. EST with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
