Playoff hopes improve for Riley Herbst at Michigan
Riley Herbst backed up a pair of top-5 runs in the stages with a strong top-10 finish Saturday in Michigan.
Herbst finished sixth after placing fifth and fourth in the stages. That effort in the stages earned the Stewart-Haas Racing driver 13 bonus points Saturday.
Heading into the race, Herbst was +25 to the cutline.
Herbst finished two positions better than Parker Kligerman, the first driver below the cutline. Kligerman didn’t earn any stage points Saturday, while Herbst earned 13, which puts Herbst at +40 to Kligerman.
Kligerman did gain four points on Sheldon Creed, who is the first driver above the cutline. Creed finished 12th, four spots behind Kligerman, meaning he now has an 18-point cushion for the final playoff spot.
Brandon Jones is now dogging Creed too. Jones placed sixth and ninth in the stages, then bagged a third-place finish. That put Jones 16 points closer to Creed, now -45 points to him with five races left in the regular-season.
PLAYOFF BUBBLE BATTLE
9. Josh Berry (+126 points to the cutline)
10. Daniel Hemric (+67)
11. Riley Herbst (+40)
12. Sheldon Creed (+18)
13. Parker Kligerman (-18 points to the cutline)
14. Brandon Jones (-45)
15. Brett Moffitt (-86)
16. Kaz Grala (-127)
The next race for the NASCAR Xfinity Series is the August 12 Pennzoil 150 at the Indianapolis Grand Prix Circuit (5:30 p.m. ET; Broadcast: USA, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Ch. 90).
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com