Riley Herbst takes Pennzoil 250 with last lap pass
The hot streak continued for Stewart-Haas Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with Riley Herbst winning the Pennzoil 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Saturday.
Herbst led four times for 30 laps, making a last-lap pass on Aric Almirola’s inside for the win in Turn 3.
Herbst and teammate Cole Custer ran first and second in the closing laps, and the two raced side-by-side along the Indianapolis frontstretch coming to the white flag.
Almirola’s No. 20 Toyota raced by the two on the outside to take the lead before Herbst chased the Joe Gibbs Racing driver down to make the race-winning pass.
Herbst earned his first win of the 2024 season and the second of his career, along with securing SHR’s second consecutive win after Custer’s victory at Pocono last week.
“This is Indianapolis, it’s an honor just to walk in the place, let alone win it. I felt like we could win, I just messed up on the restarts a little bit,” Herbst said. “Proud of everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing.”
Custer led the most laps (48 of 100), leading on four occasions. Custer finished second, 0.167 seconds behind Herbst, on the same day the 26-year-old announced he would race in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2025 for the Haas Factory Team.
“Beating doors down the frontstretch, you’ll do anything to win at Indy,” Custer said. “Awesome day for SHR, at the front all day. This is a great way to kick everything off.”
Almirola finished third for his fourth consecutive Top-5 finish in his select starts.
“They were the class of the field, those two cars were certainly better. I got to the lead and thought I’d be able to stay, but I got too tight,” Almirola said. “Certainly wanted to get in Victory Lane. It was fun to get back into the racecar and challenge for the win.”
Shane Van Gisbergen and Sheldon Creed finished fourth and fifth.
STAGE 1 AND STAGE 2
Sharing a Stewart-Haas Racing front row, Cole Custer and Riley Herbst led the field to the green flag.
While running seventh on lap 1, Sam Mayer was in the middle of A.J. Allmendinger and Carson Kvapil entering Turn 3. Contact between the right-front of Sam Mayer’s No. 1 and left-rear quarter panel of A.J. Allmendinger’s No. 16 sent Mayer for a spin in front of the field.
The spin collected multiple drivers in a 12-car pileup. Mayer and Josh Berry, competing in AM Racing’s No. 15 entry, failed to complete a lap.
The race resumed on lap 8 until lap 16 when Chandler Smith’s No. 81 Toyota slowed on the backstretch with fuel pressure issues. The caution prompted race leader Custer to pit while teammate Herbst stayed out and inherited the lead.
Herbst went on to lead the final 13 laps of Stage 1 to earn his second stage win of 2024.
TOP-10 FINISHERS (LAP 30): Riley Herbst, A.J. Allmendinger, Ryan Sieg, Brandon Jones, Justin Allgaier, Cole Custer, Parker Kligerman, Aric Almirola, Crason Kvapil, Matt DiBenedetto
Brandon Jones stayed on the track during the Stage 1 caution, taking the lead and leading 10 laps in Stage 2. Custer took the lead back on lap 41 from drafting help by Jones’ JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier.
Custer appeared to be cruising to a Stage 2 victory until a fuel pressure issue from Brennan Poole’s No. 44 with six laps to go brought out the third caution for cause of the race.
Custer led most of the field to pit road for tires and fuel, setting the stage for a 1-lap restart. Herbst won the race off pit road, but two drivers stayed on the track; Ryan Sieg and Leland Honeyman with 25-lap older tires.
Sieg held off Herbst to take his first stage victory since 2022.
TOP-10 FINISHERS (LAP 60): Ryan Sieg, Aric Almirola, Riley Herbst, A.J. Allmendinger, Justin Allgiaer, Cole Custer, Shane Van Gisbergen, Austin Hill, Leland Honeyman, Sheldon Creed
FINAL STAGE
Aric Almirola restarted as the leader in the final stage with 35 laps to go. Herbst raced back to the lead while Almirola faded to sixth-place.
Almirola and Austin Hill made in contact in Turn 1, sending Almirola for a spin. Almirola’s No. 20 didn’t make contact with anyone else, continuing on to his Top-5 finish.
Allmendinger took the lead on the restart from leader Herbst, pacing the field for four laps before Custer took the lead for the third time on lap 75, but not before teammate Herbst powered back to the lead on lap 80.
On lap 83, the No. 5 of Anthony Alfredo slowed on the backstretch after cutting a tire from contact with Daniel Dye’s No. 10 car.
Parker Retzlaff’s No. 31 plowed into Alfredo’s car, causing a multi-car crash with No. 11 Josh Williams.
Herbst, Custer, Allmendinger, Jesse Love, Almirola, DiBebenedetto and Honeyman stayed out and the race resumed with 11 laps to go.
Custer took the lead from Herbst, and the two pulled away from the field with Almirola chasing the two down before the three-way battle for the lead in the last lap-and-a-half.
TOP-10 FINISHERS (LAP 100): Riley Herbst, Cole Custer, Aric Almirola, Shane Van Gisberger, Sheldon Creed, Austin Hill, Daniel Dye, A.J. Allmendinger, Justin Allgaier, Carson Kvapil
OUTLOOK
Six races remain before the start of the playoffs.
The next NASCAR Xfinity Series race is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 17 at Michigan International Speedway.
Categories
Discover more from The Racing Experts
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Dominic Aragon View All
Dominic Aragon is currently the editor-in-chief for The Racing Experts.
From Grants, New Mexico, USA, Aragon started watching NASCAR in 2004 and has been covering the sport since 2009. Aragon is a 2012 graduate of Grants High School and a May 2016 graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Mass Communications & Journalism. Aragon has worked in local and national media, as a musician, and an educator. He is co-author of the 2024 book "All of It: Daytona 500 Champion Tells the Rest of the Story" with racer Geoff Bodine.
Aragon, his wife Feliz, and son Christopher currently reside in Grants, New Mexico, USA.
You can reach Dominic at daragon@theracingexperts.net.