HAMPTON, Ga.: Riley Herbst’s debut with 23XI Racing in the DAYTONA 500 may not have yielded the result he deserved, but it certainly turned heads.
A standout on superspeedways in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Herbst showcased his prowess last weekend at Daytona, positioning himself for a strong finish before being taken out of contention on the final lap of the “Great American Race.”
Herbst was knocked sideways, kicked inside the lead draft while eyeing a top-10 finish and forced below the yellow line in his No. 35 Monster Energy Toyota Camry. Despite a spectacular save, the Las Vegas native lost critical track position. Navigating the chaos on the backstretch, he salvaged a 17th-place finish.
While disappointed with the outcome at Daytona after a solid performance, Herbst is looking out the front windshield and keeping himself a part of the Cup Series mix for Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
“It’s been good,” Herbst said Saturday morning at Atlanta about his time with 23XI Racing.
“Yeah, it’s been a lot of fun. Bubba (Wallace) and Tyler (Reddick) have been phenomenal to lean on and to work with. And, yeah, better than I could have ever imagined. And the cars have been really fast, like as expected, and hopefully, I get another really fast one here this weekend.”
While Herbst is hopeful that he can deliver a performance similar to Daytona, his objective for his first Atlanta Cup start with 23XI Racing—co-owned by Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan—is to avoid mistakes and improve on last week.
“I mean, that’s Daytona, right? So, I don’t know,” Herbst said when asked what to expect on Sunday. “I hope it is a reflection on the future, right? But all I can say is, we just continue to work each week, and our main objective this week at Atlanta is to clean up the mistakes us on the No. 35 team made last week and not make them this week and be better than we were in Daytona.”
In a season when he has something to prove, Herbst doesn’t look too far ahead but rather stays focused on what’s in front of him.
“Honestly, the next one (race), seriously, just because how fast our race cars are and how well prepared I feel like I am,” Herbst added.
“Obviously, there’s still so much leaps and bounds to grow and to develop, but I’m excited for Atlanta, and then I’m excited to go improve my road course skills next week at COTA (Circuit of the Americas), and then the week after that is 23XI’s bread and butter with Toyota and everybody at GR racing with the mile and a half program.
“I’m excited for all the sites ahead and Phoenix. We had success in the fall, so it should be a good time.”
Follow Chris Knight on X (Twitter) @Knighter01 or email at [email protected].
