That’s how you write the script.
It wasn’t but a couple of weeks ago that Cup and Xfinity teammates at Stewart-Haas Racing, Chase Briscoe and Riley Herbst, sat next to each other on a plane where the latter spoke so strongly about his desire to win.
But it wasn’t just winning for the first time in the Xfinity Series, but also the potential of doing it at home at Las Vegas, an increasingly realistic endeavor given how much Herbst has come into his own over the past calendar year.
Don’t let the results on Racing Reference fool you, nor the fact that the No. 98 missed the playoffs this year, because the driver largely did his part but was ultimately bitten in the standings by things mostly out of his control.
Herbst has been a contender for much of the past calendar year, leading up to a playoff run in 2022, and culminating with his first victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway — his home track. It was not only a victory but a dominant one in the desert to the tune of 103 laps led out of 201.
“We just beat everyone in the playoffs, they brought their best stuff and we whooped them by about 10 seconds,” Herbst said.
It was actually 15 seconds but then came the deeply embedded chip within his shoulder.
“Yeah, everyone said I can’t do it, wouldn’t do it, won’t win, not good enough. I just flat out just beat them,” Herbst said.
There was a pause between enough and I as he processed it in real time.
“I’m really proud,” he added. “Happy with Stewart-Haas (Racing) for sticking with me. This is a huge weight off my shoulders. Relieved to be in Victory Lane and in my home city.”
Everyone has to understand what a work in progress Herbst has been, not only to the team, but also to himself over the past 139 starts since the 2019 season. Listen, he said it so let’s talk about it: Herbst has worked tremendously hard at his craft because he was a driver his peers occasionally suggested didn’t belong.
He heard them, never lashed out, and just kept plugging forward.
“I feel like, all year, even if some of you shake your heads, we’ve shown this kind of speed,” Herbst said. “We’ve either overstepped our boundaries or messed-up on pit road. I’ve hit the fence. I’ve been wrecked. I ran 15th here last year. We dominated today and I didn’t change a thing.
“That’s the biggest misconception in this sport, with drivers, I didn’t become a better race car driver when last year I couldn’t hold my own weight. There were a lot of different factors.”
Herbst also literally just extended his stay with Stewart-Haas Racing earlier in the week so he is already thinking ahead to all the ways he can keep getting better.
“Even after today, I’m still not where I want to be,” Herbst said. “I don’t think I can strap in and go head-to-head against the best in the business on Sundays. I can go run mid-20s-to-30s but that’s not what I want to do the rest of my life, honestly.
“I want to be the best version of myself, and to belong with that caliber of competition when I believe and those around me believe, and then we can have those conversations.”
Updated playoff grid
John Hunter Nemechek +47
Justin Allgaier +21
Austin Hill +19
Cole Custer +15
—
Chandler Smith -15
Sam Mayer -16
Sammy Smith -35
Sheldon Creed -41
Two to go …
Meanwhile, this was the opener of the Xfinity Series Round of 8 too, a race in which two of the contenders finished outside of the top-10 in Richard Childress Racing’s Sheldon Creed and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Sammy Smith in 15th and 17th respectively.
Smith suffered from pit road issues to lose his track position.
That leaves Creed 41 points below the cutline and Smith at 35, virtually in must-win scenarios over the next two weeks at Homestead and Martinsville to qualify into the championship race at Phoenix. Sam Mayer at -16 and Chandler Smith at -15 are also below the cutline with two races left but with much more realistic odds to point their way in.
John Hunter Nemechek finished second to move to +47, almost virtually locking himself into the championship race because he’s +28 ahead of third.
“Solid day, proud of the effort and just didn’t have enough for the 98,” Nemechek said. “Congrats to Riley. I know he’s worked hard to win these for a long time and he finally did it. Congrats to that whole group.
“It was a good points day for us, got stage points coming from the back, and if someone else is going to win, glad it’s someone not in the championship still because you never know what could happen in this round.”
It was a similar sentiment from sixth-place finish Justin Allgaier who is now +21 above the cutline.
“I’m really disappointed,” Allgaier said. “Obviously, a great points day and the guys did a great job. We got behind at the beginning and hard to get it back. … Proud of the effort all day. Hats off to Riley, that was a demonstration right there.”
Austin Hill is up 19 and Cole Custer is now inside the top-four with his third place run and stage win. Custer was less concerned about why he didn’t have the same speed as his teammate but more so just proud for Herbst.
It was the theme of the day.
“I’m so pumped for Riley,” Custer said. “He works so hard, they have worked so hard, and for him to win at his home track is pretty awesome so really happy for the whole company.”
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.