Riley Herbst celebrates Baja 1000 championship with family race team

When the NASCAR season ended, Riley Herbst walked away with a win and said he would go on to win the Baja 1000 with his family. Well, their Trophy Truck Spec team did just that.

Riley Herbst and his family racing team finished first in their class and sixth overall in North America’s most famous offroad race. The Herbst family has a long history in the Baja 1000 and that continues this season.

While we do not know what Herbst will be doing in 2025 as far as NASCAR goes, he’s enjoying his offseason it appears. The Trophy Truck Spec championship came down to less than 11 minutes over the course of a 17-hour race.

Back 2 Back Baja 1000 champs!!
So much fun racing with my family down in Mexico. Been coming here since I was a kid watching! pic.twitter.com/iAwQzJaUJq

— Riley Herbst (@rileyherbst) November 16, 2024

Racing is about family traditions. From fans in the stands to the drivers and crew members who are competing, families are at the root. The Herbst family has made this Baja 1000 part of their tradition and it has led them to other series such as NASCAR.

In 2004 and 2005, Troy Herbst and his teammate Larry Roeseler won back-to-back overall championships in the Baja 100. Now Riley has been part of his own back-to-back moment.

Riley Herbst has really started to come into his own. He has a bit of a chip on his shoulder. He struggled early in his Xfinity Series career as he raced for Joe Gibbs Racing for a season with no wins as a 21-year-old rookie.

Then he went 95 races with Stewart-Haas until he finally earned a win at Las Vegas. Since then, he has won at Indianapolis on the oval and at Phoenix most recently. That might put him in a Cup Series ride in 2025.

Riley Herbst might be out of a job

The biggest and loudest rumor out there about Riley Herbst is that he is going to 23XI Racing in a third car. However, with ongoing litigation with NASCAR right now, that might not happen.

Today, the teams were given a small win. NASCAR has waived the antitrust clause from the open car agreement. Not the charter agreement, but open cars. This will allow 23XI and Front Row to compete as open teams, but that is expensive.

The teams are still seeking an injunction to allow them to race as chartered cars in 2025. A judge would essentially waive the antitrust clause, allow the teams to sign into the charter agreements pending the results of the lawsuit.

So, Riley Herbst could be going to the Cup Series. I’m not sure what that might look like. We know he has strong funding from his family’s Terrible Herbst business as well as Monster Energy. But charter vs. open is a big deal, and it might be too big of a deal to let Herbst make his move to 23XI.