INDIANAPOLIS — Riley Herbst passed Aric Almirola for the lead on the last lap to win Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
It is Herbst’s second career victory and his first this season.
MORE: Indianapolis results
MORE: Xfinity driver points
“This is hallowed ground,” Herbst told NBC Sports’ Kim Coon after the victory. “This is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Every person in the world wants to race here, and I won here. I don’t care if it is the Xfinity Series, the Cup Series or the go-kart track out back. This is the Brickyard. This is the coolest racetrack in the world.”
Herbst’s Stewart-Haas Racing teammate, Cole Custer, also got by Aric Almirola on the last lap and finished second. That gave SHR its first 1-2 finish in the Xfinity Series.
Almirola placed third. Shane van Gisbergen finished fourth. Sheldon Creed completed the top five.
The race featured three different leaders in the final three laps of the 100-lap race.
Custer led Lap 98. Almirola took the lead coming to the white flag. Herbst led the last.
Herbst went low in Turn 3 and worked his way under Almirola, forcing Almirola up. Herbst completed the move in Turn 4.
“He’s going for the win at Indianapolis,” Almirola said. “I don’t think I would have done anything different.”
The race also started with a bang, as 12 cars were collected in a crash in Turn 3 on the first lap. It began with contact between AJ Allmendinger and Sam Mayer.
The crash eliminated Mayer and Josh Berry.
Mayer blamed Allmendinger for the incident. When he watched a replay of the incident and saw the contact with Allmendinger, Mayer told NBC Sports’ Kim Coon: “That’s stupid. … Frustrating. Obviously a really crappy way to kind of go into the off weeks like that. That’s a bummer to watch right there.”
Stage 1 winner: Riley Herbst
Stage 2 winner: Ryan Sieg
Who had a good race: Cole Custer’s runner-up finish is his series-high 16th top 10 of the season. … Sheldon Creed placed fifth, earning his ninth top five of the season, tying him with Custer for series-best honors. … Austin Hill finished sixth for his fourth top 10 in a row. … Daniel Dye was seventh, earning his second top 10 in eight series starts.
Who had a bad race: Sam Mayer was eliminated in a first-lap crash and finished last in the 38-car field. … Josh Berry, who had never raced a lap on the oval at Indianapolis, was in the Xfinity race to gain experience and he was collected in the first-lap crash.
Next: The series is off until Aug. 17 at Michigan International Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network)
Source Agencies
