Class back in session in Atlanta for Herbst's NASCAR higher education
Today at 08:46 AM
After five full seasons in the NASCAR Xfinity Series where he competed for Joe Gibbs Racing and Stewart-Haas, claiming three wins, Riley Herbst is now a full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver for 23XI Racing. Herbst is enthused to be stepping up to NASCAR's premier championship.
"Yeah, it's cool," said the 25-year-old Herbst at Atlanta Motor Speedway where he will drive the No. 35 Monster Energy Toyota Camry on Sunday afternoon. "It's fun. I'm excited to get one underneath the belt at Daytona and to kind of keep working along for it — it's a long season."
While 17th wasn't the finish he was looking for at Daytona, Herbst was pleased with the speed, pace and performance he and the No. 35 effort displayed on the high banks.
"I felt like we had a really good chance at it," said Herbst. "We were in fourth or fifth place on the green-white-checker. I thought we put ourselves in position. We just didn't execute the finish. But overall I thought it was a good weekend to build off of and something we can take to Atlanta.
"Yeah, it was very good experience at Daytona, something that you can't really explain until you experience it. The whole atmosphere is really cool at the Daytona 500, but it just means a little bit more when you're full-time and with a great team and everything.
"I'm growing on and off the racetrack, putting in a lot of hours in the simulator and working with my guys. Now we're here at the top level and we have to capitalize on the opportunity."
Herbst has nine Xfinity Series starts at Atlanta and is hoping his speed there in the past will be a good starting point.
"We've had really good runs there at Atlanta in the past in the Xfinity Series, so I'm interested to see how Atlanta races in the Cup car," said Herbst. "It looks pretty intense. They repaved it and reconfigured it a few years ago. Still, with the harsh weather in Atlanta it has been aging pretty significantly over the last couple of years. It should be interesting. And it's really cold down there, so it will be interesting to see how that plays into it."
Immediately following the Atlanta round, Herbst will look to races at COTA, Phoenix and his hometown circuit at Las Vegas to continue his higher education at the Cup level.
"Yeah, you know I'm not the biggest fan of the Circuit of The Americas," admitted Herbst. "However, I'm excited to get out West — all of my friends and family are there. That's exciting."
Now teamed with Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace at 23XI Racing, Herbst is thrilled to be a member of the team Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan have built.
"Yes, it's very cool," he said. "I've now got Tyler Reddick as a Cup teammate. The team is just really experienced and really good, so it is good for a young person like myself to learn off them and continue to grow. Everybody here has been phenomenal, for sure.
"I would say that there is pressure, but it's more exciting."
Realistically, though, how far does he think he can climb this year?
"I think just growing, right? I'm out of the Xfinity Series now and want to just continue to grow and be better every week than we were the previous week,” Herbst said. “I think that's the main objective and we'll see how the year plays out. We'll see how each quarter is evolving and where we need to progress and do better. Like I've said, there is still a long way to go but I'm excited to continue growing and to continue on this journey."
Does Herbst believe he can win a Cup race this season?
"I think so. I think that if we execute at a high level and we progress like we are supposed to, we'll be there,” he said. “I mean, I think we have the race cars to go do it and I know we have the team to go do it.
“As far as what I want to achieve here at Atlanta this weekend, it is kind of the same goal that we had at Daytona. We really want to run all the laps and learn every lap and be in position when the white flag falls for a good finish and to hopefully capitalize on it."
