RILEY HERBST
Bristol NASCAR Xfinity Series Advance
No. 98 Resorts World Las Vegas Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing
NASCAR Xfinity Series Overview
• Event: Food City 300 (Round 26 of 33)
• Date: Friday, Sept. 16
• Location: Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway
• Layout: .533-mile concrete oval
• Time/TV/Radio: 7:30 p.m. EDT on USA/PRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Riley Herbst Notes of Interest
• Riley Herbst rolls into the NASCAR Xfinity Series regular-season finale Friday night at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway with a new look to his No. 98 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR). The Las Vegas native welcomes a new partner from his hometown to his racing machine for the Food City 300 – Resorts World Las Vegas – adding a pop of color for the final race before the Xfinity Series playoffs begins next Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. Resorts World Las Vegas was developed by Genting Berhad, a publicly traded Malaysian corporation registered with the Nevada Gaming Commission. The facility features 3,506 guest rooms and suites, an innovative, next-generation gaming floor, world-class food and beverage options, a 5,000-capacity theatre, distinct nightlife venues, a curated retail collection of designer and boutique shops, and more. The integrated resort weaves time-honored traditions of the international Resorts World brand into the fabric of Las Vegas, introducing a bold, fresh take on hospitality to the city with stunning design, progressive technology and world-class guest service. For more information, visit www.rwlasvegas.com.
• While the NASCAR Playoffs are built on a “win-and-you’re-in” mentality, Herbst has proven that consistency can also earn a driver a spot in the postseason. The 23-year-old racer arrives at Bristol locked into the Xfinity Series playoffs for the third year in a row. After last Saturday’s penultimate round of the regular season at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Herbst tallied an insurmountable 108-point cushion above the top-12 cutoff. Growth and consistency have been key for Herbst in the first 25 races this season as he’s recorded five top-five finishes and 15 top-10s. He has made the playoffs in each of his fulltime season in the Xfinity Series.
• In last year’s regular-season finale at Bristol, Herbst raced to a career-best Bristol finish of third. His tenacity, combined with savvy pit calls from crew chief Richard Boswell, put him in the lead for a lap-180 restart, during which he was shuffled back several spots. But Herbst kept his cool and, on the final restart, cars ahead of him scuffled, leaving gaps for him to advance his way up to third, passing Justin Allgaier off turn four on the final lap. He finished just behind the race’s top protagonists, AJ Allmendinger and Austin Cindric, who made contact coming to the checkered flag and spun across the finish line.
• The Food City 300 will mark Herbst’s fourth career Xfinity Series start at Bristol. In his first start at the track in June 2020, Herbst led four laps and appeared headed for a top-10 finish until an accident took him out just 47 laps shy of the checkered flag. He bounced back in his second start at the track in September 2020 with a solid 10th-place effort before returning last September for a season-best third-place run. Herbst also has three Bristol starts outside of the Xfinity Series – two in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and one in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. His best of those outings was 10th, earned in his first K&N Pro Series start in 2016.
• In addition to the new partnership with Resorts World Las Vegas this weekend at Bristol, Herbst will also be wearing a pair of Monster Energy green skeleton gloves as part of the Driven to Give Glove Program with the Dale Jr. Foundation. The initiative is back for the first time since 2020 and it supports Nationwide Children’s Hospital and its efforts to help courageous patients and their families in areas of pediatric injury rehabilitation, research and cancer prevention. After being worn in the Xfinity Series regular-season finale, Herbst will autograph his gloves and put them up for auction at www.thedalejrfoundation.org from Friday night through Sept. 23.
Riley Herbst, Driver of the No. 98 Resorts World Las Vegas Ford Mustang
This is the first weekend that Resorts World Las Vegas will be showcased on your No. 98 Ford Mustang. Talk about what bringing a new partner on board means to you and the team.
“I’m pumped to have Resorts World Las Vegas on my No. 98 Ford Mustang this weekend. It’s obviously a hometown company for me, which means the world to have their support. They got connected with us through my partners at Baja Vida Snacks, so you’ll see them this weekend, as well, with Resorts World on my car and Baja Vida Beef Jerky visible through my in-car camera. It’s cool to see these companies work together to support my career. Can’t thank them enough.”
You’ve repeatedly talked about Bristol being your favorite track on the Xfinity Series schedule. What is it about this short track that appeals to you?
“I think it’s just short-track racing, in general. Most of the guys in the garage will say this, but these types of tracks take us back to our roots. Bristol is obviously unique with its layout, but I think it still has the same elements as other short tracks. That track is hectic. It’s so crazy. It’s so fast. It’s a little half-mile, and it’s high-banked. It’s so much fun to go and battle there and rub some fenders. I’m excited to head back to Bristol after our third-place run last year. To think, if we had just had another corner, we could’ve been the ones in victory lane last September.”
This is the final race before the Xfinity Series playoffs begins next weekend at Texas. What is your mindset going into this weekend knowing that you’ve already secured a playoff berth?
“There’s nothing to lose. We’re locked in on points, so we can just focus on winning. That’s always been our focus, but ultimately the playoffs is the bigger picture and that’s how you have to race. We wouldn’t come out and race every weekend if I didn’t think we could compete for a championship. We’ve seen consistency win championships before and I feel like we’ve shown that speed and consistency this year. Bristol’s a good track for us, so I think we’ll be a contender at the end.”
No. 98 Resorts World Las Vegas 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
