"Unfortunate for him" - Riley Herbst reacts after AJ Allmendinger contact leads to DNF at Charlotte Xfinity race

Riley Herbst was left seething after his contact with veteran driver AJ Allmendinger early on in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The incident brought an early end to Herbst's afternoon, handing him his second DNF of the season.

The race, held at the 1.5-mile speedway in Concord, North Carolina, saw Herbst attempting to maneuver past Allmendinger’s No. 16 Chevrolet off Turn 2. However, contact from Allmendinger sent Herbst's No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang spinning toward the inside wall, effectively ending his race.

After being evaluated and released from the infield care center, Herbst expressed his displeasure with the incident, feeling it was entirely avoidable. He hinted at potential retribution for Allmendinger in the upcoming race at Portland, which is known to be one of Allmendinger’s favorite tracks. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver stated (via NASCAR.com):

"I haven’t seen a replay. I passed him twice, cleanly. Slid him. Racing at Charlotte, it’s hot. I passed him. I think next weekend is Portland, his favorite race track. We’ll see what happens."

He went on to describe the move that led to the contact, explaining that he had executed a slide job on AJ Allmendinger through Turns 1 and 2 and believed Allmendinger could have attempted to retake the position without incident.

"My spotter said I was clear, I moved up to the fence, and he had a run off the top, which is fine," Herbst added. "He could have tried to slide me back and get some momentum, but instead he just got into my left rear and hooked me. Unfortunate, but probably unfortunate for him."

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What did AJ Allmendinger say after his top-5 finish in Charlotte?

AJ Allmendinger, who competed in the Cup Series last season, secured his second top-5 finish of this season, despite the incident with Herbst. After starting 11th, Allmendinger moved into the top 10 in the first stage, ultimately taking the green-white checkered flag in fifth, earning six additional points.

However, he faced challenges in the second stage that prevented him from scoring further stage points. Reflecting on his Xfinity Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Allmendinger said (via Speedway Digest):

"That was a struggle. Everyone on our LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevy fought hard trying to make adjustments today. We’re searching, trying to find something, but we haven’t hit on it."

He added:

"A lot of credit goes to my spotter, Coleman Pressley, for trying to keep me in it. I couldn’t run the fence, the car would move around a lot, and we didn’t have speed running the bottom. Late race restarts, anything can happen. Just tried to be aggressive and get everything we could at the end."

The top-five finish allowed AJ Allmendinger to climb from seventh to sixth in the points standings. With a total of 347 points, he remains 107 points behind leader Austin Hill and 56 points ahead of the playoff cutline, currently held by Anthony Alfredo. The Kaulig Racing driver has secured two top-5 finishes and six top-10 finishes in 12 races this season.