That Riley Herbst is fifth in the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship standings after a month’s worth of racing says a lot about his development as a racer but it says even more that it’s kind of a disappointing start.
He very well could have won the races at Daytona or Atlanta, only scored a top-5 in his first race back at Las Vegas since winning in October, and then back-to-back misfortunes at Phoenix and Circuit of the Americas.
“I think we have had really good speed at every track, except for probably last week at COTA, but I kind of knew that going in a little bit, just not really being my strong suit as a racetrack, but we’re going back to Richmond where we led some laps last year, had good stage finishes and then ultimately got wrecked with like 15 to go, so I’m excited to see what Davin is bringing to Richmond this weekend,” Herbst said during a Wednesday media availability. “I know it’s going to be fast and hopefully we can get back on track with top-3s and top-5s and get some points back.”
But what are the vibes like because there’s good and bad in that, right?
“Yeah, I think the morale is really high in the shop with both me and Cole (Custer) and all the team guys,” Herbst said. “We’ve shown pace at every track we’ve gone to. Ultimately, neither of us have won yet, but I think we’re OK being in the position we’re in.
“Cole is fourth in points and us fifth in points, so we’re excited. We know the season is still really early. Ultimately, we both want to win and I think we’re both going to win this year. It’s just a matter of time.”
Herbst is a legit championship threat this season, or at least he should be based on a stat that says he has the most laps run in the top-5 this young season, at 487 of the 744 run so far.
“That tells me that we left a lot on the table still. If the two teammates didn’t wreck the field at Phoenix and we get caught up in that, that would have been more laps I feel like at Phoenix,” Herbst said. “If I did a better job last week in executing at COTA, we could have had more there, too. It’s cool to see how far I’ve progressed and how far this team has progressed and how we continue to just get better each and every week, and hopefully we can do some more of that this weekend at Richmond. It’s one of my favorite tracks.”
Herbst also likes the upcoming schedule with tracks like Richmond, Martinsville, Texas, Talladega, Dover and Darlington.
“I think the first five weeks have been up and down for sure for the 98 team, and I think we can capitalize on these next five tracks for us,” he said. “Richmond is really awesome. Martinsville is fun. Texas, we’re going to have a really fast race car.
“Davin loves that place and obviously anything can happen out in Talladega, and Dover is a good racetrack for myself too. I’m excited for the tracks upcoming. We should have nothing but really good pace at every single racetrack and it’s fun going to the racetrack knowing that I have a car that can win and can win stages and lead laps, so I’m excited to see what the next five hold.”
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.