Herbst Scores Steady Sixth at Martinsville
Monster Energy Driver Earns Fifth Top-10 of 2022
Date: Friday, April 8
Event: Call 811 Before You Dig 250 powered by Call811.com (Round 8 of 33)
Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series
Location: Martinsville (Va.) Speedway (.526-mile oval)
Format: 250 laps, broken into three stages (60 laps/60 laps/130 laps)
Start/Finish: 11th / 6th (Running, completed 261 of 261 laps)
Point Standing: 11th (212 points, 130 out of first)
Note: Race extended 11 laps past its scheduled 250-lap distance due to a green-white-checkered finish.
Race Winner: Brandon Jones of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 1 Winner: Ty Gibbs of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner: Brandon Jones of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Overview:
Patience and strategy earned Riley Herbst a strong sixth-place finish in the Call 811 Before You Dig 250 powered by Call811.com NASCAR Xfinity Series race Friday night at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang started 11th and ended the first stage in 12th as Herbst wrestled a loose-handling racecar. Crew chief Richard Boswell made a key strategy call in the second stage, bringing Herbst to pit road for four tires and fuel on lap 101. The fresh tires gave Herbst the grip he needed to climb to ninth at the end of the stage and pick up two valuable bonus points. After another round of pit stops to begin the final stage, Herbst lined up second and took the lead at the drop of the green flag before settling into sixth place, maneuvering through two overtime restarts to maintain sixth in a green-white-checkered finish that delivered his fifth top-10 of 2022.
Riley Herbst, driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“Our race wasn’t too bad. To come home sixth with another top-10, all in all it was a good day. That’s what we need to do here in 2022. Obviously, we wanted to win the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash money, and we do want to go win races, but we just have to progress.”
Notes:
● Herbst’s sixth-place finish equaled his previous best result at Martinsville. Herbst also finished sixth in October 2020.
● This was Herbst’s fifth top-10 in the last last five short-track races on the Xfinity Series schedule. He finished fifth last September at Richmond (Va.) Raceway, third the very next week at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, 10th last October at Martinsville, and fifth last Saturday at Richmond.
● Brandon Jones won the Call 811 Before You Dig 250 powered by Call811.com to score his fifth career Xfinity Series victory, his first at Martinsville and his first of the season. His margin over second-place Landon Cassill was .677 of a second.
● There were 16 caution periods for a total of 100 laps.
● Twenty-one of the 38 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
● AJ Allmendinger remains the championship leader after Martinsville with a 20-point advantage over second-place Ty Gibbs.
Next Up:
The Xfinity Series takes a weekend off for Easter before returning to action on Saturday, April 23 for the Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. The race starts at 4 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
