Herbst Powers His Way to Fifth at Bristol
Resorts World Las Vegas Driver Overcomes Early Spin to Earn Sixth Top-Five of 2022
Date: Friday, Sept. 16
Event: Food City 300 (Round 26 of 33)
Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series
Location: Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway (.533-mile concrete oval)
Format: 300 laps, broken into three stages (85 laps/85 laps/130 laps)
Start/Finish: 12th / 5th (Running, completed 300 of 300 laps)
Point Standing: 9th (711 points, 337 out of first)
Race Winner: Noah Gragson of JR Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Ty Gibbs of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner: Justin Allgaier of JR Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Overview:
Riley Herbst and the No. 98 Resorts World Las Vegas team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) battled their way to a fifth-place finish in Friday night’s Food City 300, the NASCAR Xfinity Series regular-season finale, at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. After starting 12th, Herbst ran in the top-15 until contact with the No. 2 machine of Sheldon Creed on lap 14 sent him into a spin. He fell back to 33rd but wasted no time charging to the front of the pack. Herbst was 15th by the end of Stage 1 and entered the top-10 on lap 120. He earned six valuable stage points with a fifth-place finish in Stage 2. The Las Vegas native restarted ninth in the final stage and, during a hectic restart, maneuvered his way around the chaos to fifth. He struggled with the balance of his Ford Mustang from that point and fell back to sixth. When the caution flag flew on lap 272, crew chief Richard Boswell called his driver to pit road for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment to give Herbst what he needed for the final sprint to the finish. He restarted fifth with 20 laps to go and brought home his sixth top-five of 2022.
Riley Herbst, driver of the No. 98 Resorts World Las Vegas Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“Man, our Ford Mustang was the best it had been all day at the end of the race. I wish we could’ve had a little more time and better track position, but I’m still proud of this No. 98 team for rebounding from that early spin for a top-five finish. I think we proved that we’re here to compete and capable of running up front. We’re turning our focus to the playoffs and Texas.”
Notes:
● Herbst earned his sixth top-five of the season and his second top-five in four career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Bristol.
● Herbst finished fifth in Stage 2 to earn six bonus points.
● This was Herbst’s third straight top-10 at Bristol. He finished third last September and 10th in September 2020.
● Noah Gragson won the Food City 300 to score his 11th career Xfinity Series victory, his sixth of the season, and his second at Bristol. His margin over second-place Brandon Jones was .145 of a second.
● Herbst finished the regular season ninth in the driver standings. He begins his third consecutive appearance in the 12-driver playoffs in the 11th position, three points behind the top-eight cutoff to advance to the next round.
● There were eight caution periods for a total of 58 laps.
● Only 13 of the 38 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
● AJ Allmendinger is the regular season champion. He won with a 53-point advantage over second-place Justin Allgaier.
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 on Sept. 24 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. It is the first race of the seven-race Xfinity Series Playoffs. The race starts at 3:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by USA and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
