Riley Herbst

Riley Dederick Kern Herbst (born February 24, 1999) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 35 Toyota Camry XSE for 23XI Racing.

Racing career

Early years Herbst began racing karts as a five-year-old.

During his youth, Herbst competed in the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series' Junior 1 Kart division.

In 2020, Herbst joined his cousins Pierce and Thor at the 2020 Baja 1000, where they finished second in the Trophy Truck Spec class. The trio also ran the 2021 1000 and placed ninth.

Herbst, his father, Troy, and Jordan Dean won the Trophy Truck Spec class in the 2023 Baja 1000, finishing eighth overall.

ARCA Menards Series

In 2017, Herbst drove full-time for Joe Gibbs Racing in the No. 18 Toyota in the ARCA Racing Series. He drove the No. 81 in the first race but withdrew due to age limitations. He then moved to the No. 18 for the rest of the season. He won one race at Pocono, earned five top-fives, ten top-tens, and finished seventh in the final standings. He also claimed the series' Rookie of the Year award over Gus Dean after passing Dean in the season's final event. For the 2019 season, he split JGR's No. 18 with Ty Gibbs.

Xfinity Series Herbst's No. 18 Monster Energy car at Dover International Speedway in 2020 In May 2018, Herbst was named to the 2018 NASCAR Next class. For the 2019 season, he split JGR's No. 18 with Jeffrey Earnhardt, Kyle Busch, and Denny Hamlin.

In 2020, Herbst assumed full-time driving duties in the No. 18. He qualified for the playoffs but was eliminated following the first round. He ended the year with a twelfth place points finish, four top-five finishes, seventeen top tens, and the best finish of second at Auto Club Speedway and Kentucky Speedway. After the season, JGR signed Daniel Hemric to drive the No. 18 full-time starting in 2021, leaving Herbst without a ride.

Herbst's No. 98 car at Daytona International Speedway in 2021 On December 10, 2020, Stewart–Haas Racing announced Herbst would drive the No. 98 Ford beginning with the 2021 season. he rebounded with a fourth-place finish at Phoenix Raceway. In 2022, Herbst would have his best season in his Xfinity career; his eight top-fives and twenty top-ten finishes during the season were all career-highs.

Herbst began the 2023 season with a sixth-place finish at Daytona. He then scored five more consecutive top-ten finishes. Despite missing the playoffs, Herbst scored his first career win at Las Vegas. The end to his season was strong, as the win was part of a five-race streak of top-five finishes.

Remaining at SHR for 2024, Herbst repeated the previous year's result to finish sixth at Daytona. Having run in the top positions throughout the following race at Atlanta, he ran out of fuel whilst sitting second with a few laps left, eventually dropping to 15th. Herbst scored his first win of the season at Indianapolis after he made a spectacular last lap pass on Aric Almirola. Unfortunately, he would be knocked out of the first round of the playoffs. At Phoenix, Herbst gave Stewart–Haas Racing its final race win; he finished seventh in the points standings.

On May 28, 2024, Stewart–Haas Racing announced it would shut down its NASCAR operations at the end of the season.

Camping World Truck Series In 2018, Herbst was tabbed to drive for Kyle Busch Motorsports. He made his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut in the No. 51 at Gateway Motorsports Park finishing 8th and the No. 46 at his home track, Las Vegas Motor Speedway finishing 29th.

On October 12, 2019, Herbst was passing Johnny Sauter on the final lap for the win in the tri-oval at Talladega Superspeedway but was blocked across the apron, forcing NASCAR to penalize Sauter and give Spencer Boyd his first career win. Herbst would finish third.

Herbst returned to the Truck Series in February 2021 for the Daytona road course race, driving the No. 17 Ford for David Gilliland Racing. He returned to the No. 17 truck for Daytona and Kansas in 2022.

Cup Series On January 31, 2023, Herbst was announced to have signed with Rick Ware Racing to make his Cup Series debut in the No. 15 Ford at the 2023 Daytona 500. Herbst would go on to finish tenth in his debut despite being involved in a multi-car crash late in the race. He is also one of five drivers in NASCAR history to score a top-ten in their first Cup, Xfinity, and Truck Series starts. He made another start for RWR at Talladega Superspeedway, where he started 36th and finished twentieth. He competed for Front Row Motorsports at the 2023 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona in the No. 36 Ford. He started in sixth but fell to the back at the end of stage 1 before getting caught up in the big one at the end of stage 2. He would be classified in 38th place. Herbst would compete for Front Row in the No. 36 again in the fall Talladega race that same year. Herbst would start in sixth again, but this time was able to finish the race despite crashing again. He was also in contention for the win as he ran in fourth for the closing laps of the race and pushed Ryan Blaney to the lead on the final lap and almost pushed Kevin Harvick to the victory before he got spun by Corey LaJoie and took out most of the field coming out of the tri-oval. Herbst would come across the line in 9th (originally 10th before Harvick got disqualified), his best career finish in the Cup Series.

Herbst signed with Rick Ware for the 2024 Daytona 500, driving the No. 15 again but this time with Monster Energy as a sponsor instead of SunnyD, which was his sponsor in the previous year's race. Herbst qualified in twelfth but finished in twentieth in the Duels, which started him in 36th for the race. Herbst was at one point in the top ten during the race but ultimately finished in 24th. Herbst ran another race that same year in the No. 15 at Kansas, starting 37th and finishing 35th, two laps down. Herbst ran two more races for Rick Ware at Nashville and Richmond, finishing 37th and 33rd.

On November 20, 2024, 23XI Racing announced that Herbst would drive the No. 35 Toyota full-time for the 2025 season. Herbst will run long-time partner Monster Energy as his sponsor. He started the season with a seventeenth-place at the 2025 Daytona 500. Herbst struggled throughout the season, failing to score a single top-ten finish and only finishing inside the top-twenty-eight times with a best finish of fourteenth at Texas, and finished 35th in the final standings. Shortly after the Charlotte Roval race, the No. 35 car was disqualified for failing post-race height inspection.

On May 30th, 2026, it was confirmed that Corey Heim would replace Riley Herbst in the 35 car.

Personal life Herbst's family owns the Terrible Herbst company, a privately held gas station and convenience store chain in Las Vegas and Southern Utah.

Motorsports career results

Stock car career summary Season Series Team Races Wins Top 5 Top 10 Points Position 2015 CARS Super Late Model Tour LFR Development Group 1 0 0 0 22 47th 2016 CARS Super Late Model Tour Fury Race Cars 1 0 1 1 31 40th NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Bill McAnally Racing 3 0 0 3 105 29th NASCAR K&N Pro Series West 14 0 7 10 510 7th 2017 ARCA Racing Series Joe Gibbs Racing 19 1 6 10 4555 5th NASCAR K&N Pro Series East MDM Motorsports 1 0 0 1 37 47th NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Bill McAnally Racing 2 0 1 2 76 28th 2018 ARCA Racing Series Joe Gibbs Racing 20 0 8 15 4595 3rd CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour Glen Moffitt 1 0 0 0 12 73rd NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Kyle Busch Motorsports 2 0 0 1 81 39th DGR-Crosley 2 0 0 0 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East 1 0 1 1 41 40th NASCAR Xfinity Series Joe Gibbs Racing 1 0 0 1 0 NC† 2019 ARCA Menards Series Joe Gibbs Racing 8 0 2 5 1485 16th CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour Nelson Motorsports 1 0 1 1 28 40th NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Kyle Busch Motorsports 3 0 1 2 61 44th NASCAR K&N Pro Series East DGR-Crosley 3 0 0 1 96 22nd NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Levin Racing with Joe Gibbs Racing 1 0 0 1 35 48th NASCAR Pinty's Series DJK Racing 1 0 0 0 24 43rd NASCAR Xfinity Series Joe Gibbs Racing 9 0 0 3 0 NC† 2020 ARCA Menards Series Joe Gibbs Racing 4 1 3 4 167 24th NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Kyle Busch Motorsports 1 0 0 0 0 NC† NASCAR Xfinity Series Joe Gibbs Racing 33 0 4 17 2152 12th 2021 ARCA Menards Series David Gilliland Racing 1 0 0 1 38 79th NASCAR Camping World Truck Series 1 0 1 1 0 NC† NASCAR Xfinity Series Stewart–Haas Racing 33 0 5 13 2157 11th 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series David Gilliland Racing 2 0 0 0 0 NC† NASCAR Xfinity Series Stewart–Haas Racing 33 0 8 20 2197 10th 2023 ARCA Menards Series West Jerry Pitts Racing 2 0 1 1 68 27th NASCAR Cup Series Rick Ware Racing 2 0 0 1 0 NC† Front Row Motorsports 2 0 0 1 NASCAR Xfinity Series Stewart–Haas Racing 33 1 10 17 904 13th 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Rick Ware Racing 4 0 0 0 0 NC† NASCAR Xfinity Series Stewart–Haas Racing 33 2 7 15 2254 7th 2025 NASCAR Cup Series 23XI Racing 36 0 0 0 399 35th NASCAR Xfinity Series Joe Gibbs Racing 4 0 2 2 0 NC† † As Herbst was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.

NASCAR (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Cup Series NASCAR Cup Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Pts Ref 2023 Rick Ware Racing 15 Ford DAY10 CAL LVS PHO ATL COA RCH BRD MAR TAL20 DOV KAN DAR CLT GTW SON NSH CSC ATL NHA POC RCH MCH IRC GLN 45th 01 Front Row Motorsports 36 Ford DAY38 DAR KAN BRI TEX TAL9 ROV LVS HOM MAR PHO 2024 Rick Ware Racing 15 Ford DAY24 ATL LVS PHO BRI COA RCH MAR TEX TAL DOV KAN35 DAR CLT GTW SON IOW NHA NSH37 CSC POC IND RCH33 MCH DAY DAR ATL GLN BRI KAN TAL ROV LVS HOM MAR PHO 55th 01 2025 23XI Racing 35 Toyota DAY17 ATL17 COA17 PHO37 LVS19 HOM33 MAR31 DAR34 BRI28 TAL22 TEX14 KAN27 CLT28 NSH24 MCH25 MXC29 POC37 ATL28 CSC17 SON25 DOV24 IND26 IOW30 GLN24 RCH31 DAY40 DAR28 GTW31 BRI18 NHA22 KAN22 ROV37 LVS17 TAL32 MAR36 PHO23 35th 399 2026 DAY8 ATL33 COA23 PHO18 LVS23 DAR35 MAR35 BRI21 KAN14 TAL25 TEX11 GLN26 CLT21 NSH17 MCH13 POC16 COR8 SON30 CHI10 ATL35 NWS18 IND36 IOW21 RCH24 NHA34 DAYQL† DAR GTW BRI KAN LVS CLT PHO TAL MAR HOM -* -* † Qualified but replaced by Harrison Burton

Daytona 500 Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish 2023 Rick Ware Racing Ford 38 10 2024 36 24 2025 23XI Racing Toyota 24 17 2026 28 8

Xfinity Series NASCAR Xfinity Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 Pts Ref 2018 Joe Gibbs Racing 18 Toyota DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL TEX BRI RCH TAL DOV CLT POC MCH IOW6 CHI DAY KEN NHA IOW GLN MOH BRI ROA DAR IND LVS RCH ROV DOV KAN TEX PHO HOM 100th 01 2019 DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL TEX BRI RCH9 TAL DOV15 CLT POC MCH37 IOW CHI10 DAY18 KEN11 NHA IOW13 GLN MOH BRI ROA DAR IND LVS9 RCH ROV DOV KAN TEX PHO30 HOM 88th 01 2020 DAY32 LVS9 CAL2 PHO10 DAR18 CLT12 BRI27 ATL17 HOM10 HOM9 TAL37 POC9 IRC33 KEN2 KEN10 TEX36 KAN9 ROA23 DRC7 DOV6 DOV9 DAY4 DAR4 RCH10 RCH34 BRI10 LVS12 TAL35 ROV12 KAN30 TEX32 MAR6 PHO11 12th 2152 2021 Stewart–Haas Racing 98 Ford DAY26 DRC39 HOM11 LVS40 PHO4 ATL6 MAR29 TAL4 DAR28 DOV17 COA16 CLT12 MOH21 TEX12 NSH10 POC35 ROA7 ATL19 NHA10 GLN13 IRC8 MCH7 DAY10 DAR38 RCH5 BRI3 LVS33 TAL27* ROV34 TEX12 KAN13 MAR10 PHO4 11th 2157 2022 DAY4 CAL9 LVS14 PHO38 ATL4 COA26 RCH5 MAR6 TAL7 DOV9 DAR3 TEX8 CLT25 PIR35 NSH3 ROA7 ATL9 NHA30 POC12 IRC6 MCH9 GLN7 DAY15 DAR34 KAN16 BRI5 TEX5 TAL11 ROV32 LVS18 HOM8 MAR3 PHO7 10th 2197 2023 DAY6 CAL7 LVS8 PHO4 ATL5 COA10 RCH23 MAR30 TAL23 DOV21 DAR38 CLT14 PIR32 SON15 NSH2 CSC24 ATL36 NHA20 POC4 ROA5 MCH6 IRC12 GLN35 DAY24 DAR6 KAN23 BRI8 TEX37 ROV4 LVS1* HOM2 MAR4 PHO4 13th 904 2024 DAY6 ATL15 LVS5 PHO24 COA34 RCH13 MAR25 TEX27 TAL2 DOV16 DAR7 CLT38 PIR10 SON13 IOW2 NHA8 NSH6 CSC28 POC11 IND1 MCH38 DAY4 DAR35 ATL26 GLN13 BRI13 KAN10 TAL3 ROV32 LVS7 HOM6 MAR11 PHO1* 7th 2254 2025 Joe Gibbs Racing 19 Toyota DAY ATL COA13 PHO LVS HOM MAR DAR BRI CAR TAL TEX3 CLT NSH MXC POC ATL CSC SON5 DOV IND IOW GLN36 DAY PIR GTW BRI KAN ROV LVS TAL MAR PHO 81st 01

Camping World Truck Series NASCAR Camping World Truck Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Pts Ref 2018 Kyle Busch Motorsports 51 Toyota DAY ATL LVS MAR DOV KAN CLT TEX IOW GTW8 CHI KEN ELD POC MCH 39th 81 DGR-Crosley 54 Toyota BRI15 MSP PHO15 HOM Kyle Busch Motorsports 46 Toyota LVS29 TAL MAR TEX 2019 DAY ATL LVS MAR TEX DOV KAN9 CLT TEX IOW15 GTW CHI KEN POC ELD MCH BRI MSP LVS 44th 61 51 TAL3 MAR PHO HOM 2020 DAY12 LVS CLT ATL HOM POC KEN TEX KAN KAN MCH DRC DOV GTW DAR RCH BRI LVS TAL KAN TEX MAR PHO 86th 01 2021 David Gilliland Racing 17 Ford DAY DRC5 LVS ATL BRD RCH KAN DAR COA CLT TEX NSH POC KNX GLN GTW DAR BRI LVS TAL MAR PHO 99th 01 2022 DAY12 LVS ATL COA MAR BRD DAR KAN12 TEX CLT GTW SON KNX NSH MOH POC IRP RCH KAN BRI TAL HOM PHO 93rd 01

Season still in progress Ineligible for series points

Pinty's Series NASCAR Pinty's Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Pts Ref 2019 DJK Racing 28 Dodge MSP20 JUK ACD TOR SAS SAS EIR CTR RIS MSP ASE NHA JUK 43rd 24

ARCA Menards Series (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.) ARCA Menards Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Ref 2017 Joe Gibbs Racing 81 Toyota DAYWth 5th 4555 18 NSH7 SLM12 TAL8 TOL5 ELK3* POC1* MCH16 MAD3 IOW12 IRP13 POC2 WIN17 ISF16 ROA2 DSF16 SLM17 CHI13 KEN7 KAN9 2018 DAY10 NSH13 SLM6 TAL17 TOL19 CLT2 POC5 MCH2 MAD13 GTW5 CHI6 IOW17 ELK4 POC5 ISF9 BLN9 DSF3 SLM9 IRP8 KAN4 3rd 4595 2019 DAY10 FIF SLM TAL2 NSH TOL CLT19 POC2* MCH12 MAD GTW CHI6 ELK IOW POC ISF DSF6 SLM IRP KAN16 16th 1485 2020 DAY7 PHO TAL4 POC IRP KEN IOW KAN3 TOL TOL MCH1 DRC GTW L44 TOL BRI WIN MEM ISF KAN 24th 167 2021 David Gilliland Racing 17 Ford DAY PHO TAL KAN TOL CLT MOH POC ELK BLN IOW WIN GLN6 MCH ISF MLW DSF BRI SLM KAN 79th 38

K&N Pro Series East NASCAR K&N Pro Series East results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pts Ref 2016 Bill McAnally Racing 19 Toyota NSM9 MOB GRE BRI10 VIR DOM STA COL NHA IOW GLN GRE NJM 29th 105 16 DOV8 2017 54 NSM GRE BRIWth SBO SBO MEM BLN TMP NHA IOW GLN LGY NJM 47th 37 MDM Motorsports 41 Toyota DOV7 2018 DGR-Crosley 98 Toyota NSM BRI LGY SBO SBO MEM NJM THO NHA IOW GLN GTW NHA4 DOV 40th 41 2019 17 NSM BRI18 SBO SBO MEM NHA6 IOW 22nd 96 54 GLN12 BRI GTW NHA DOV

ARCA Menards Series West ARCA Menards Series West results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pts Ref 2016 Bill McAnally Racing 19 Toyota IRW6 KCR4 TUS7 OSS16 CNS13 SON5 SLS7 IOW3 EVG3 DCS3 MMP5 MMP4 MER19 AAS12 7th 510 2017 54 TUS9 KCR IRW IRW SPO OSS CNS SON IOW EVG DCS MER AAS KCR3 28th 76 2019 Levin Racing withJoe Gibbs Racing 10 Toyota LVS IRW TUS TUS CNS SON DCS IOW EVG GTW MER AAS KCR PHO10 48th 35 2023 Jerry Pitts Racing 5 Ford PHO IRW KCR PIR18 SON3 IRW SHA EVG AAS LVS MAD PHO 27th 68

CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. ** – All laps led.) CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pts Ref 2018 Glen Moffitt 5H Chevy TCM MYB ROU HCY BRI ACE CCS KPT HCY21 WKS ROU SBO 73rd 12 2019 Nelson Motorsports 18 Toyota SNM5 HCY ROU ACE MMS LGY DOM CCS HCY ROU SBO 40th 28

CARS Super Late Model Tour (key) CARS Super Late Model Tour results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pts Ref 2015 LFR Development Group 19 N/A SNM ROU HCY SNM TCM MMS ROU CON MYB HCY11 47th 22 2016 Fury Race Cars SNM ROU HCY TCM GRE ROU CON MYB HCY2 SNM 40th 31