“They made it worse”: Riley Herbst slams Charlotte Road Course’s “abysmal” reconfiguration 

Stewart-Haas Racing driver Riley Herbst slammed the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course for changing the pavement before the last qualifying race of the round of 12. The road course announced in August a new pavement project for the Roval 400 race scheduled for Sunday, 13 October 2024.

The Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course worked on the section between turns 6 and 7. They believed in the idea of making the track a bit more "challenging" and for that, the track committee decided to make harder braking spots in the 17-turn race track. To achieve this, the Motor Speedway created a longer infield straightway leading into a tight, hairpin corner.

After being questioned about it, in a post-race interview, Riley Herbst expressed his concerns about the new pavement on the track. He said:

"I don't know if you've seen it, Matt, but they've taken a really bad racetrack and made it really, really worse. So I don't know that wasn't good English, but that's kind of how I feel about it. I'd feel better if it was the old layout, but that new turn seven, it's abysmal."

Herbst further mentioned that "luckily" the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course gave the drivers 15 minutes to practice and get a hold of the track on Friday or Saturday morning before the race.

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Riley Herbst reflects on his disappointing run at NASCAR's longest track

The #98 Ford driver qualified in seventh place for the race with a best time of 53.018 seconds and a top speed of 180.618 mph. He was 0.44 seconds behind Jesse Love, the leader of the pack. Soon after the end of stage 1, Herbst fell five places and finished in 12th without earning any points.

The #98 driver was a bit frustrated with his performance at NASCAR's longest track and expressed it in the interview. He said:

"I was a little bit frustrated. Matt. I thought the first stage we didn't do a really good job executing. We didn't get one point, and we just didn't really have any pace."

In stage 2, Herbst moved up six spots and ended in sixth place, earning an additional five points. Herbst got a lead in the final stage of the race with a few laps to go, after a big wreck on the track started by Carson Kvapil involving almost ten drivers. Herbst steered safely from the wreck and finished third, earning a total of 39 points.

His teammate Cole Custer finished in 26th place after getting involved in the wreck. Sammy Smith won the race and now is in the top spot in the playoff standings. Riley Herbst is in seventh place with a buffer of 20 points from the qualifying line, and his teammate Custer is in third place.