“I’ve relied hard on Kevin Harvick”: SHR’s Riley Herbst opens up on NASCAR ambitions after Indianapolis win 

Stewart-Haas Racing's Riley Herbst won his first win of the season at Saturday’s Pennzoil 250, securing his spot in the 2024 playoffs. Despite the achievement, Herbst is yet to secure a ride for the 2025 season.

Last month, Stewart-Haas Racing announced their decision to wind down NASCAR operations after the 2024 season. Since then, all their Cup drivers except Ryan Preece have lined up new opportunities for 2025. Among the Xfinity drivers, Cole Custer was announced to take over the retained Cup charter for the Haas Factory Team. However, as of now, Riley Herbst finds himself without any solid prospects.

After his recent win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Riley Herbst opened up about his plans post-2024. He said (via Joseph Srigley on X):

"I think I'm looking at opportunities in all three levels. I have really relied hard on Kevin Harvick. [...] , I've had a lot of talks with Haas Factory. They're going really well.

"Obviously, they have really fast race cars you saw today, but I think I'm going to put my chips on the table with Kevin Harvick and everybody at Kevin Harvick incorporated and really rely on what they think my next step should be and where I should position myself for the best for the future."

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Riley Herbst wins the Pennzoil 250 race on the last lap in the final corner

In the series' comeback to the oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Herbst secured his second NASCAR Xfinity race win. He started strong, winning Stage 1 and taking third in Stage 2. In the final stage, with just two laps to go, Herbst overtook his teammate Cole Custer for the lead. The move, however, briefly allowed the Joe Gibbs Racing driver, Aric Almirola, to slip ahead.

But Herbst wasn’t done yet. On the very next lap, leveraging his faster car, he executed a pass to reclaim the lead from Aric Almirola, marking himself as the first Xfinity winner at Indianapolis since its recent addition to the racing calendar.

Riley Herbst and his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate, Cole Custer, made a splash at the latest Xfinity Series race. On the final lap, Custer passed Aric Almirola to take second place, right behind Herbst, securing SHR its first-ever 1-2 finish in the Xfinity Series. The JGR driver ended up in third, with Shane van Gisbergen and Sheldon Creed rounding out the top five. Speaking to NBC Sports after winning the race, Herbst said,

"Every person in the world wants to race here, and I won here. I don't care if it's the Xfinity Series, if it's the Cup Series, if it's the go-kart track out back. This is the Brickyard. This is the coolest racetrack in the world," he said.

NASCAR will now pause for a two-week break to accommodate the Olympics, with the Xfinity Series set to resume on August 17 at Michigan International Speedway for the Cabo Wabo 250.