Herbst Finishes Ninth at Auto Club Speedway
Monster Energy Driver Kicks Off 2022 with Consecutive Top-10s
Date: Saturday, Feb. 26
Event: Production Alliance 300 (Round 2 of 33)
Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series
Location: Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California (2-mile oval)
Format: 150 laps, broken into three stages (35 laps/35 laps/80 laps)
Start/Finish: 16th / 9th (Running, completed 165 of 165 laps)
Point Standing: 4th (71 points, 19 out of first)
Note: Race extended 15 laps past its scheduled 150-lap distance due to multiple attempts at a green-white-checkered finish.
Race Winner: Cole Custer of SS Green Light Racing (Ford)
Stage 1 Winner: Trevor Bayne of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner: Cole Custer of SS Green Light Racing (Ford)
Overview:
Riley Herbst scored a hard-earned top-10 finish in the Production Alliance 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series race Saturday at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. The driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing started 16th in the 38-car field and worked diligently to break into the top-10. Herbst fought a loose-handling racecar for much of the race around the two-mile oval, but the 23-year-old racer from Las Vegas persevered, finishing 10th in the penultimate stage and then coming home ninth when the checkered flag dropped. The result, coupled with Herbst’s fourth-place drive last week in the season-opening race at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, has him fourth in the championship standings.
Riley Herbst, driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“I felt like we were really fast on long runs, but we just couldn’t really fire off. Once we got about 20 laps into a run, I felt like we were a top-three car, for sure. It’s good to get top-10s and that was our goal at the beginning of the year, so we’ll keep stacking them. Our first two races last year were DNFs and this year the first two races are top-10s, so I think that kind of speaks for itself. We gotta go get another one in Vegas.”
Notes:
● Herbst finished 10th in the second stage to earn a bonus point.
● In his two career Xfinity Series starts at Auto Club, Herbst has finished in the top-10 each time. He finished second when the series last raced at the two-mile oval in February 2020.
● Cole Custer won the Production Alliance 300 to score his 10th career Xfinity Series victory, his second at Auto Club and his first of the season. His margin over second-place Noah Gragson was .565 of a second.
● There were 12 caution periods for a total of 58 laps.
● Twenty-four of the 38 drivers in the Production Alliance 300 finished on the lead lap.
● AJ Allmendinger maintained his lead in the championship standings, but barely. He holds a one-point advantage over his nearest pursuer, Gragson.
Next Up:
The next event on the Xfinity Series schedule is the Alsco Uniforms 300 on Saturday, March 5 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The race starts at 4:30 p.m. EST with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
