Herbst Finishes 15th at Daytona

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In: Xfinity Series News

Race Winner: Jeremy Clements of Jeremy Clements Racing (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Winner: Ty Gibbs of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Stage 2 Winner: Noah Gragson of JR Motorsports (Chevrolet)

 

Overview:

Riley Herbst posted a 15th-place finish in the Wawa 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race Friday night at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, but that doesn’t tell the whole story of his race. The driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) started sixth after qualifying was rained out and the field was set by the rulebook. Persistent rain and lightning delayed the start by more than three hours, and with a multitude of crashes in the waning laps that led to three attempts at a green-white-checkered finish, the race ended close to 1:30 a.m. Herbst was fast throughout, leading the field on lap 19 and again on lap 25 and finishing third in the second stage to grab eight bonus points. This placed Herbst second for the start of the final stage, but calamity soon came calling. On lap 73, Herbst spun on the backstretch, necessitating a trip to pit road to clean the grill, change tires, and repair some minor damage. He returned to the race in 37th, and in less than 25 laps he had rallied his way to ninth. A multicar crash on lap 99 set up the first green-white checkered finish. Herbst survived it and then two more attempts at a green-white-checkered finish, only to get spun out of the top-five on the final lap. His 15th-place result was his 18th top-15 of the season and his third straight top-15 at Daytona.

 

Riley Herbst, driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing: 

“Man, that was rough. We were fast all day, but just kept getting caught up in incidents. Overall, we survived, finished on the lead lap, and earned a decent finish at Daytona. Proud of this Monster Energy team for never giving up. All we can do is learn and move onto Darlington.”

 

Notes:              

● Herbst led twice for two laps, increasing his laps led total at Daytona to 27.

● Jeremy Clements won the Wawa 250 under caution to score his second career Xfinity Series victory, his first of the season and his first at Daytona.

● There were 10 caution periods for a total of 41 laps.

● Only 15 of the 38 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.

● AJ Allmendinger remains the championship leader after Daytona with a 58-point advantage over second-place Ty Gibbs.

 

Next Up:          

The next event on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the Sports Clip Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 on Saturday, Sept. 3 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. The race starts at 3 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by USA and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.  

 

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