Riley Herbst wins Pennzoil 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in thrilling finish

A winner at the Brickyard! Riley Herbst gets the job done in a thrilling finish at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Herbst fought off his own teammate Cole Custer and his former teammate at Stewart-Haas, Aric Almirola to win his second NASCAR Xfinity Series race.

This race restarted with 12 laps to go. Cole Custer, Riley Herbst, AJ Allmendinger, they were the three to beat. Then, Aric Almirola came charging in with five laps to go.

With one lap to go, we had Custer, Herbst, and Almirola three wide across the bricks. Herbst had the faster car and passed Almirola out of Turn 4 like it was the Indy 500.

REPOST TO CONGRATULATE RILEY HERBST!

HE PASSES ARIC ALMIROLA TO WIN THE #XfinitySeries RACE ON THE INDIANAPOLIS OVAL. pic.twitter.com/QSMxdZY1E8

— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) July 20, 2024

For the second time in his career, Riley Herbst is a winner in the Xfinity Series. He just earned the biggest win of his entire NASCAR career.

Huge wreck on Lap 1 takes out multiple drivers

Before the race really even started, it was already in the gutter. Well, not really, but a wreck on Lap 1 is not what anyone had in mind for the Xfinity Series’ return to the Indianapolis oval.

Josh Berry, Sammy Smith, and Sam Mayer were all involved in the wreck. It was a bad break for Mayer and Berry. Smith was able to keep racing after the incident. Jesse Love and Connor Daly were also involved.

By the end of the stage, it was Riley Herbst out front. He started the P2 race and was able to take the lead and hold it until the end of the stage. Herbst kept himself involved throughout the afternoon.

Cole Custer, Justin Allgaier duel it out again

Once again, Cole Custer and Justin Allgaier found themselves duking it out. The two drivers were trading the lead before Custer was able to take control of the race. Stewart-Haas Racing brought some seriously fast cars.

While neither Custer or Allgaier would win the stage, they showed that they were the two to beat, for the most part. A late caution in Stage 2 caused by Brennan Poole led to the field taking fuel and tires.

With the field taking to pit road, a few cars stayed out. Ryan Sieg was one of them. That was a great call for the driver, with an SHR alliance, as he tries to point his way into the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs.

Sieg won the stage, but this race was only getting started. The final stage is where things unfolded.

Riley Herbst comes out on top in 12 lap dash

Over the course of the final 44 laps of this race, things were shaping up pretty good for Cole Custer and Riley Herbst. It was hard to tell which one would win, but as the race started to tick down towards 20 to go, it was clear that Herbst was going to catch Custer.

Before Anthony Alfredo slowed up on the track and was plowed into by Parker Retzlaff, it was Herbst chasing down Custer for the lead. Then, the Alfredo wreck happened. A few cars were destroyed, but all drivers were released from the care center.

That final caution set up a 12-lap dash to the finish. Cole Custer, and Riley Herbst – they stayed out on tires. On Row 6 was Shane van Gisbergen, the first car on four fresh tires. It was no mistake the Kiwi earned a P4 finish today.

Custer couldn’t hold off Herbst for all 12 laps. By the time Herbst made the move to pass, Aric Almirola had nosed his way up to the front. He had been spun in Stage 3 to bring out a caution earlier, but charged back to the lead.

Three-wide over the start-finish line coming to the white flag, doors banging, Almirola took the lead. But he wouldn’t win the race. Riley Herbst made a pass coming out of Turn 4 and it was over for Almirola’s chances. Custer finished P2 for the Stewart-Haas front-row sweep.

The race started with Custer on pole and Herbst on the outside of the front row. The two would swap in the final race results.