TOYOTA RACING – Riley Herbst
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
DARLINGTON, SC (September 5, 2026) – 23XI Racing driver Riley Herbst was made available to the media on Saturday prior to the NASCAR Cup Series race from Darlington Raceway.
RILEY HERBST, No. 35 GoGo SqueeZ Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing
Can you talk about how big this past week has been for you?
“Yeah, it’s been a great, great experience. Obviously, excited to stay in the Toyota camp. Just really looking forward to hitting the ground running next year. Just super grateful to Denny (Hamlin, 23XI Racing ownership), Curtis (Polk, 23XI Racing ownership), to Michael (Jordan, 23XI Racing ownership), for allowing me to live out my dream and getting my first Cup contract and wish them nothing but the best moving forward. It’s been an hour of a lifetime to drive for all three of those guys. But looking forward to next year. LEGACY is growing in a huge way, has a lot of support from the manufacturer and is getting a new compound, a new shop. So, looking forward to all those fun things and hopefully we can have some good success.”
Were there any tires left on the Supra when you were done?
“No the Supra tires are gone (laughter), so, yeah, that was fun though.”
What do you want to accomplish this season before you move to LEGACY MOTOR CLUB?
“That’s a great question. Being out last week was tough. So, we got 10 races left to, hopefully, run back where we were in late Spring, early Summer, with a few top 10s, leading laps, being more competitive. That’s kind of where I want to bring this 35 car back. I know we had the speed to do that, but realistically, it’s just really good people around me. I think the huge jumps I made from last year to this year is having two really good teammates in Bubba (Wallace) and Tyler (Reddick). I’m going to miss those guys tremendously, but I know we’ll be friends for life. I have had teammates to bounce ideas off of and have really good people. So looking forward to starting that cultivating process of bringing good people to LEGACY, and making this transition pretty seamless.”
What steps does LEGACY MOTOR CLUB need to make to continue to grow?
“I think it’s difficult to race in the NASCAR Cup Series, as I experienced that last year, and this year as well, and I think they’ve made huge improvements throughout the year. I think the high speed, high down force racetracks are pretty fast. Michigan, I think Erik (Jones) had a real shot to win that race, and a lot of weekends, they’ve been a lot faster than they have in the past, and that’s just to do with hard work, and I think that they’re getting their race cars in a really good position, and I’m excited to jump into this race team at this time, when I think that they’re taking a huge step in the right direction, obviously looking forward to work with Erik (Jones). He’s had the experience of driving fast race cars at (Joe) Gibbs (Racing), and then whoever’s going to be in the 42 car. So, I think the 3 of us will work well together and continue to grow LEGACY and hopefully take it to that next step.”
Who will be in the number 42?
“(laughter) Not me. (laughter)”
How is your health?
“Thank you. It’s good. No symptoms this week, back to 100%. So, yeah, concussion free.”
What was it? Was it a concussion?
“I got diagnosed with a concussion after the wreck in Loudon, and I thought that I was cleared to, to pass. I passed all my tests the week leading up to Daytona. Obviously, I qualified in the race car, and had really fast speed, and then I woke up Saturday morning, feeling really, really rough with trouble with all the symptoms, the worst I’ve had since the wreck. So, I thought it was the best idea for me to step out and let Harrison (Burton) drive the race car, but back to being 100%.”
You did some track time on Thursday with some ride alongs. Was everything okay?
“We were at the sim, so I’ve been into sim every single day this week. No symptoms, I’ve worked out every single day this week, no symptoms, and yeah, I did those little ride alongs on Thursday with no symptoms, so obviously nobody knows until you hop in the race car, but I’ve been cleared of all activities and looking forward to completing another Southern 500.”
Your first start at LEGACY MOTOR CLUB will be Jimmie Johnson’s last. What does that mean to you?
“I think it’s going to be pretty similar for everybody in the field for what Jimmie’s given this sport, seven-time champion, 84,85 wins. It’s pretty remarkable. I was kind of looking back on it with my parents last night. I’ve been pretty fortunate to drive for some pretty cool people, whether that be Coach (Joe) Gibbs, Tony Stewart, Gene Haas, Michael Jordan, Denny Hamlin, and now my childhood hero, Jimmie Johnson. Extremely fortunate and blessed just to be in this opportunity to continue to chase my dream of winning a NASCAR Cup Series race.”
Can you share when concussion like symptoms started to appear and when the diagnosis was, just the timeline of that after the wreck?
“I don’t really know. They come and go. Concussions are a super weird health issue, health problem that honestly, it’s an evolving matter. It’s not like you can x-ray your arm and see a broken bone or see it not broken. It’s all about how you feel in one day, you can feel 100%, and then I can wake up Saturday morning, like I did last week, and struggle to get out of bed. So, yeah, it was a rough process, but obviously I think myself, NASCAR, Atrium Health, we all did the right thing last week and taken me out of the race car for the betterment of myself and obviously the field of race car drivers, but you just kind of have to rest, rest, rest, and hopefully you can beat the symptoms sooner than you want.”
How do you feel about the package here in Darlington?
“Yeah, it was fun. We had it here in the Spring. I thought we had really good pace. We ran ninth to 14th all day in the 400 and until we got caught up in a wreck there in the third stage. So, hopefully we can do the same or even if a little bit better, and I think all of us at Toyota have made big steps since the springtime race here. So, I’m looking forward to see the pace out of all of us this weekend. I mean, the shorter spoiler and the high horsepower and the softer tire is kind of what us race car drivers want. Hopefully the fans want that as well, and hopefully we can put on a good show, so NASCAR likes it as well because that’s the most important part.”
How do you feel when your teammates win? Are you on a different journey?
“I feel I’m extremely happy for Tyler (Reddick). I thought I worked hard leaving the O’Reilly Series and I walk into Airspeed and, Tyler showed me how I have to work, how I need to work to, if you want to win like that. I feel like all of us, me, Bubba (Wallace), Tyler, we work together, and, um, I know myself and Bubba take credit in those wins that Tyler had earlier in the year, and, I’m rooting extremely hard for the 45 (Tyler Reddick) and the 23 (Bubba Wallace) to win this championship for Airspeed, because we are kind of one cohesive group, and so, yeah to the second part of your question, I am on a different journey. This is my – what year and a half into the Cup Series and they’ve been doing this for quite some time and they’re really, really good at it.”
What can you carry from 23XI that can possibility make LEGACY MOTOR CLUB better?
“I think it’s just going to be everybody working in the same direction, and I think 23XI has a great culture, and they do that extremely well. But there’s just invaluable knowledge that I’ve learned from Tyler (Reddick) on how to prepare in the sim, how to prepare for notes. I’ve learned invaluable lessons from Bubba (Wallace) as well, and obviously when you have a team owner like Denny Hamlin (23XI ownership), you can go to with questions and he’s still in the car. He’s feeling the same thing as you. So, there’s things that you literally just don’t know because you don’t know, and so once you start asking questions and you start to get answers, you can start to put things together. It’s kind of like a, a pop quiz, but you have all the answers if you ask. So, I kind of approached my whole year this year that way. I’d rather look stupid asking a question than look stupid doing something stupid on the racetrack because I didn’t ask that question that makes sense a little bit so. I’ve been a sponge with Bubba and Tyler and Denny and just asking as much as I can.”
Initially after the wreck, did you feel any symptoms at that point or did it just appear on Saturday?
“Leaving the Infield Care Center, and then the following Monday and Tuesday was rough and I thought I was over it by Wednesday night, Thursday morning, but ultimately I wasn’t.”
Are you going to try to lean on him because Jimmie Johnson was, like, the consummate work hard, play hard kind of driver?
“I mean, Jimmie Johnson can give you any advice, you should probably listen. He’s won seven championships. I’m absolutely going lean on Jimmie. I going to lean on Erik (Jones). There’s a lot of great people at LEGACY, and that’s when I’m excited to go over there with, and I can’t say it enough. I really hope that the three racecar drivers, whoever the third one is, we can work together as cohesive as the places I have been, and continue to climb LEGACY up the ladder and bring trophies to LEGACY.”
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