Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Championship Race | Saturday, November 9, 2024
RILEY HERBST WINS NASCAR Xfinity Series SEASON FINALE AT PHOENIX RACEWAY
- Riley Herbst won tonight’s Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway.
- The victory is Herbst’s second of the season and third of his career.
- It also marks the 29th series win for Stewart-Haas Racing with Ford.
- Tonight’s win is the fourth of the season for Ford with Custer and Herbst both winning twice.
Ford Performance Unofficial Results:
1st – Riley Herbst
8th – Cole Custer
19th – Dylan Lupton
22nd – Blaine Perkins
23rd – Ryan Sieg
26th – Matt DiBenedetto
29th – Kyle Sieg
30th – Garrett Smithley
RILEY HERBST, No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang Dark Horse – VICTORY LANE INTERVIEW – HOW REWARDING IS THIS PERFORMANCE IN YOUR FINAL RACE WITH STEWART-HAAS RACING? “I knew we were going to have a fast race car. These guys have been working on this Phoenix car as if we were in the playoffs. I knew we were going to be really fast. It has been a really tough week this past week at the shop and a lot of really emotional people. This place has been home for a lot of people for a long time, including myself and it has built me into who I am the last four years. I am grateful to every man and woman at Stewart-Haas Racing. They gave me a really fast car today and we capitalized on it. I can’t thank Monster Energy enough and everyone on the 98 team. They deserve to win. That is a championship caliber team and crew chief. I wish we could have cleaned some stuff up over the last summer but I am proud of these guys and we will see what next year has.”
YOU HAVE TAKEN A BIG STEP FORWARD THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS. “I’ve said it multiple times. I knew I could be here. I knew I could do this. Everything in life is just hard work and I definitely didn’t start out how I wanted to be. It was embarrassing there for a few years and I was just really, really struggling, but I got around really good people. Tony Stewart, Richard Boswell, Davin Restivo, Kevin Harvick and they told me to get to work and they told me what I needed to work on and we did that. Now, we’re starting to see the fruits of our labor.”
COLE CUSTER, No. 00 Andy’s Frozen Custard/Haas Automation Ford Mustang Dark Horse – WALK US THROUGH THE END OF THE RACE. “First of all, I just want to congratulate Justin. That’s a long time coming for him. He’s a deserving champion, for sure. What it came down to for us was that restart when the 21 stayed out on older tires. Honestly, it just came down to who you were behind. He made his car really wide, very hard to get by which is his right. We’re all going for a championship, but that ended up screwing us worse than it did the 7 and the 7 was able to slip by. That’s what sucks. I really wanted to win this championship for SHR and finish it out strong, but it just wasn’t meant to be. It just sucks that it comes down to tire strategies and situational restarts and things like that, but the 7 car was great all day. I mean, they definitely had a fast car, but I can’t say enough about our team. JT and all these guys did a great job all year. Haas Automation, Andy’s Frozen Custard, Ford Performance. We’ll keep digging. This definitely stings because we were so close, but we’ll move on.”
YOU HAD THE FASTEST CAR AMONG THE CHAMPIONSHIP 4. WHAT HAPPENED? “I don’t know if I would say we were a clear favorite. I think us and the 7 were really equal. They just had some mistakes in the middle of the race, but at the end of the day it came down to that restart with the 21 and some guys staying out on older tires. We just got bottlenecked behind them and the 7 was able to slip by. I have to say congratulations to Justin and all those guys. They definitely deserve it. Justin is a very deserving champion. He’s been working hard at this for a long time and I’m happy that he finally got it. It definitely stings for our team. I hate that it comes down to tire strategies and things like that, but it was a great race for us. We executed a great race, but it just didn’t work out. I wish we could have ended with a win for SHR, but it just wasn’t meant to be. I can’t think Haas Automation, Ford Performance, Andy’s Frozen Custard enough. We’ll just regroup and keep digging.”
HOW WAS TRAFFIC THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT? “It wasn’t bad. I thought the lappers were really respectful and everybody was fine. Everybody was racing hard, but it just sucks to run second.”
IS IT BITTERSWEET THAT THIS IS THE END OF SHR FOR YOU? “For sure. There’s been a lot of memories with Stewart-Haas Racing and we just wanted to end it out on a win so bad. We got Riley a win, so that’s awesome to end it out with that, but I really wanted that championship but it just wasn’t meant to be.”
