Riley Herbst will be reuniting with Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) for a four-race NASCAR Xfinity Series deal in 2025, beginning this upcoming weekend at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas.
The 23-year-old Herbst from Las Vegas, Nevada, will be piloting JGR’s No. 19 Toyota Supra entry sponsored by Monster Energy at COTA. The news of Herbst’s part-time Xfinity deal comes as he is campaigning in his first full-time season in the Cup Series division with 23XI Racing. After notching back-to-back 17th-place finishes through the first two-scheduled events, he is currently ranked in 18th place in the 2025 driver’s standings and he leads Shane van Gisbergen in the Rookie-of-the-Year standings.
Herbst, who claimed the 2017 ARCA Menards Series Rookie-of-the-Year title, made his Xfinity Series debut with JGR at Iowa Speedway in June 2018, where he notched an impressive sixth-place result. He would then return for nine events in 2019, where he recorded three top-10 results, before he graduated to a full-time Xfinity campaign in JGR’s No. 18 Toyota entry for the 2020 season.
After notching a total of 17 top-10 results, qualifying for the 2020 Xfinity Playoffs and finishing in 12th place in the 2020 standings, Herbst transitioned from JGR to Stewart-Haas Racing to pilot the No. 98 Ford Mustang entry, beginning in 2021. Over his next three seasons, he accumulated his first two career poles, 23 top-five results, 50 top-10 results, 217 laps led, average-finishing results within the top-15 mark and two Playoff appearances in 2021 and 2022. Despite missing the Playoffs in 2023, the Las Vegas native notched his first career victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, his home track.
The 2024 Xfinity season was a breakout year for Herbst, who notched a total of two victories: Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July and the season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway in November. Despite being eliminated from the Playoffs following the Round of 12, he settled in a career-best seventh place in the final standings prior to his promotion to NASCAR’s premier series in 2025.
Through 175 current starts in the Xfinity Series division, Herbst has achieved three victories, two poles, 34 top-five results, 86 top-10 results, 506 laps led and an average-finishing result of 15.2. His current average-finishing rating through four Xfinity starts at COTA between 2021 to 2024 is 21.4, including a single top-10 result registered in 2023, as he strives to gain a competitive edge prior to his first Cup start at COTA this upcoming Sunday, March 2.
In 2025, Herbst is primed to become the fifth competitor to pilot JGR’s No. 19 “all-star” entry throughout the Xfinity schedule. Justin Bonsignore first piloted the entry during this year’s season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway while Aric Almirola drove the entry this past weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Both Bonsignore and Almirola are each slated to compete in eight additional events apiece. JGR Cup drivers Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe are also scheduled to drive the No. 19 entry at Darlington Raceway in April and at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, respectively. Seth Chavka will continue to serve as the entry’s crew chief.
The remainder of this year’s Xfinity Series schedule for Herbst and JGR’s driver lineup for the No. 19 entry remains to be determined.
Riley Herbst’s return to the NASCAR Xfinity Series division with Joe Gibbs Racing is scheduled to occur this upcoming Saturday, March 1, at Circuit of the Americas for the Focused Health 250. The event’s broadcast time is slated to commence at 2:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
