Henry Repeating Arms Racing: Riley Herbst Darlington NXS Advance

Riley Herbst Notes of Interest

•  It’ll be a blast from the past on Saturday as Riley Herbst pays homage to his team owner, Tony Stewart, in the Steakhouse Elite 200 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. The orange-and-white design of Stewart’s 1999 NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year ride will adorn Herbst’s No. 98 Henry Repeating Arms Ford Mustang from Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) during the Official Throwback Weekend of NASCAR. The scheme ultimately yielded three wins, 12 top-fives and 21 top-10s during Stewart’s maiden Cup season. Herbst looks to tap into that lineage at Darlington by building off the strong fourth-place finish he earned in the Xfinity Series’ previous race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway

•  The orange-and-white livery of Herbst’s No. 98 Ford Mustang does tie-in well to Stewart’s Home Depot-themed paint scheme from 1999, but the colors also fit Henry Repeating Arms, the primary partner of Herbst at Darlington. The 2021 NASCAR season marks Henry Repeating Arms’ third year with SHR, and the American manufacturer of classic rifles and shotguns that is a world leader in the lever-action category is also a loyal customer of Haas Automation, whose founder, Gene Haas, co-owns SHR with Stewart. With an array of Haas CNC equipment, Henry Repeating Arms makes more than 300,000 rifles and shotguns annually from its headquarters in Rice Lake, Wisconsin, and at its second manufacturing facility in Bayonne, New Jersey. 

•  Darlington has proven to be “Too Tough To Tame” for many drivers as they navigate its tight confines, but “The Lady In Black” took a liking to Herbst in his last visit to the 1.366-mile oval last September. The Las Vegas-native finished fourth in just his second career Darlington start.

•  The Steakhouse Elite 200 will mark Herbst’s 52nd career Xfinity Series start. His resume includes six top-fives and 24 top-10s. His best finish is second, earned twice – in February 2020 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, and July 2020 at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta. At just 22 years of age, Herbst has both youth and history on his side – the average age of the past three Xfinity Series winners at Darlington is 23 and all three were Xfinity Series regulars.

Riley Herbst, Driver of the No. 98 Henry Repeating Arms Ford Mustang

What does it mean to be able to run this paint scheme that was once driven by your team owner?

“To be able to run a paint scheme that was once driven by my boss is pretty cool. I was born the year Tony Stewart ran this paint scheme and it’s one of those iconic designs that everyone remembers. Henry Repeating Arms has some orange in its logo and they went all in on the design and it really came out great. It looks like what Tony ran back in 1999. It’s incredible to bring it back for one weekend and I can’t thank Henry Repeating Arms enough for making it happen. It’s an honor to drive this racecar.”

Darlington is a tough track, but you had a good run your last time there with a strong fourth-place drive. What are your thoughts heading into Saturday’s race?

“I only have two starts at Darlington, but I had a good run at the track last year. I didn’t have the opportunity to have any practice there. We just unloaded and raced, so that first race was the first time I ever turned a lap there. It wasn’t my best run, but we learned a lot. When I came back in the fall, I had a bit more experience under my belt and was able to run up in the top-five. Hopefully, I can translate everything I learned in those two races into this weekend’s race with my new team.”

You’re welcoming a new sponsor to your No. 98 Ford Mustang at Darlington in Henry Repeating Arms. Talk about that.

“Henry Repeating Arms is a new sponsor to me, but they’ve been with SHR for three years now. It’s awesome that they had the confidence in me to come aboard for a race weekend as big as Darlington. The No. 98 team has won at this track in the past, and I’ve had good runs, as well. We’re hoping for a great race on Saturday and maybe even a trip to victory lane for them.”

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