RILEY HERBST
Kansas NASCAR Xfinity Series Advance
No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing
NASCAR Xfinity Series Overview
• Event: Kansas Lottery 300 (Round 25 of 33)
• Date: Saturday, Sept. 10
• Location: Kansas Speedway in Kansas City
• Layout: 1.5-mile oval
• Time/TV/Radio: 3 p.m. EDT on USA/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Riley Herbst Notes of Interest
• The Kansas Lottery 300 Saturday at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City serves as the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ lone visit to The Sunflower State in 2022. But Riley Herbst, driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing, has already logged plenty of laps around the 1.5-mile oval. The 23-year-old racer from Las Vegas competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race back in May, finishing 12th in a David Gilliland Racing-prepared Ford F-150. It was Herbst’s ninth overall start at Kansas across the Truck Series, Xfinity Series and ARCA Menards Series.
• Herbst has made three Xfinity Series starts at Kansas, with a best finish of ninth in his first Xfinity Series start at the track in July 2020. He has two Truck Series starts, with ninth also being his best finish in that series, earned in his first Truck start at Kansas in 2019. The bulk of Herbst’s Kansas starts have come in ARCA. In four career ARCA starts at the track, Herbst has two top-five and three top-10 finishes, with his best result coming in his most recent outing – a third-place drive in July 2020 where Herbst started on the pole and led 18 laps.
• While Herbst is seeking his first career Xfinity Series win, the No. 98 team has already earned a victory at Kansas. The Richard Boswell-led team won at Kansas in October 2020 with driver Chase Briscoe, who led a race-high 159 laps and beat runner-up Daniel Hemric by 1.199 seconds. In the NASCAR Cup Series, Stewart-Haas Racing owns three Kansas wins – one by Tony Stewart (October 2009) and two by Kevin Harvick (October 2016 and May 2018).
• Only two regular-season races remain before the Xfinity Series playoffs begin Sept. 24 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. Herbst is in a solid position to make the 12-driver playoff field, sitting eighth in the driver standings with 651 points, 112 markers above the top-12 cutoff line. A win would lock Herbst into the playoff field, but he can also secure his position by pointing his way into the postseason with continued consistency through the regular-season finale next Friday night at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
• Consistency has been a key element of Herbst’s 2022 campaign. In his third fulltime Xfinity Series season, Herbst has matched his career best of five top-five finishes, first earned in 2021. He is only three top-10 finishes away from surpassing his career best of 17 top-10s, which he earned in 2020.
Riley Herbst, Driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang
In your most recent race last weekend at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, a crash not of your making derailed what was shaping up to be another strong finish. Your No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang had speed throughout the race, so what do you take away from a weekend like that, where you had a great racecar but not the desired result?
“We have to minimize the mistakes if we want to be in position to win these races. Ultimately, last weekend I made a mistake that put us in a difficult position and put us out of the race. We can’t dwell on it because we have to turn around and race again this weekend, but we’re always learning and getting better. Our Monster Energy Ford Mustang had the speed last weekend, so we know that we can run up front. We have to clean up our races, and that’s what we’re doing.”
This is the only visit the Xfinity Series makes to Kansas this year. However, you raced there in the spring with the Truck Series. Is there anything you learned in that race that you can apply to this weekend?
“There’s a lot that can transfer over. Honestly, just the extra seat time at Kansas helps. I love this track. Kansas is probably one of my favorites because I’ve always performed decently there. I was grateful to get behind the wheel of the No. 17 Ford F-150 back in the spring, and I’m hoping that experience can help us run up front his weekend.”
Only two races remain before the playoffs begin Sept. 24 at Texas Motor Speedway. You’re solidly eighth in points, highest of the drivers without a win yet this season. Talk about your year and how you feel heading into these last two regular-season races.
“Obviously, 2022 has been good to us, but we’re still searching for our first win. I think we’re close, and to get it before the end of the season would be awesome. We’ve worked on being consistent and running well, but we need to continue that. This No. 98 Monster Energy team deserves to be in victory lane and I know that we can get there. Don’t count us out.”
No. 98 Monster Energy Team Roster
Primary Team Members:
Driver: Riley Herbst
Hometown: Las Vegas, Nevada
Crew Chief: Richard Boswell
Hometown: Friendship, Maryland
Car Chief: Matt Noyce
Hometown: Oregon, Wisconsin
Engineer: DJ VanderLey
Hometown: Mobile, Alabama
Spotter: Tim Fedewa
Hometown: Holt, Michigan
Over-The-Wall Crew:
Front Tire Changer: Kevin Teaf
Hometown: Tallahassee, Florida
Rear Tire Changer: Trevor White
Hometown: Arlington, Texas
Tire Carrier: Davis Sampere
Hometown: Raleigh, North Carolina
Fueler: Corey Coppola
Hometown: Bluefield, West Virginia
Jackman: Kapil Fletcher
Hometown: Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Road Crew Members:
Truck Driver: Steve Wood
Hometown: Eatontown, New Jersey
Engine Tuner: Willie Pelotte
Hometown: Oakland, Maine
Tire Specialist: Austin Quick
Hometown: Flagstaff, Arizona
