10 laps before John Hunter Nemechek won Stage 2 of the 2024 Cabo Wabo 250, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Riley Herbst brought out the race’s fifth caution, thanks to a spotter howler. Herbst, who started alongside pole-winner Sheldon Creed, wrecked himself on Ryan Sieg’s #39’s nose. Ironically, Creed & Herbst also caused the second unplanned caution of the race in Stage 1, when the #98 of Herbst took the air off the spoiler of Creed’s #18 Toyota.

This had caused Sheldon Creed to lose out on his front-running track position, as he finished well outside the top 20 at the end of the first 30-lap stage cycle. Herbst finished P7 in Stage 1, while Creed finished P26. During the stage break, shower clouds approached the Michigan International Speedway. And after a brief restart, the race was red-flagged for rain, resulting in a nine-minute, 41-second stoppage.

When the green finally waved again, Sieg & Herbst made their respective routes inside the top 10. But disaster struck on Lap 49, when the latter, gunning for 4th, went wide. He was attempting to clear Sieg on the inside when he right-rear hooked himself straight into the wall into Turn 3 collecting the cars of Sam Mayer, Brandon Jones, and Cole Custer.

According to Seth Eggert, the Associate Editor for Kickin’ the Tires’s X post, “‘I cut hard right when I heard clear,’ @rileyherbst said, having made the decision immediately after his spotter’s communication.”

Although most would notice it as a straightforward racing incident, the radio dialogue at the time sadly reveals the spotter making the opportune call that culminated in the #98’s day ending early. Regardless, a lot can go wrong in the heat of the moment. After his hard hit, NASCAR later informed fans that Riley Herbst walked away safely from the infield care center at MIS.

His teammate Cole Custer’s regular season championship lead is down to 12 points over second-place Justin Allgaier with five races left to make the post-season. His #00 plowed in the back of Brandon Jones’ out of control #9 in the ensuing carnage. Custer, Sam Mayer and Riley Herbst have locked in their berths for the eliminators, while Ryan Sieg, Sheldon Creed, and Brandon Love are still competing for a confirmed shot at the championship. Despite the varying measures of damage to their cars, a win at Michigan would not come easy for either of those aspirants.

Justin Allgaier’s Michigan win narrows DNF-bound Cole Custer’s points lead

Riley Herbst’s SHR teammate Cole Custer’s regular season championship lead over Justin Allgaier is just down to 12 points now. And that is because Allgaier won the Michigan Xfinity race after leading a race-high 37 laps. It was only the 25th win of the JR Motorsports driver’s NASCAR Xfinity Series career. On the flip side of the results, Custer, Herbst, Sam Mayer & Brandon Jones, all notched their 2024 Michigan outing with a DNF.

Interstingly, Sheldon Creed, who faced his due share of troubles on Saturday, registered the 11th second-place finish of his Xfinity Series career, after making an impressive recovery in this race. The #18 Joe Gibbs Racing driver led the field for 23 laps rolling off the grid in P1 before he spun himself out on his very next circuit around the track. His JGR stablemate, John Hunter Nemechek, lost his defending champ status and finished his race in P3.

Rounding off the top-10 were Anthony Alfredo, Sammy Smith, Noah Gragson, Matt DiBenedetto, Taylor Gray, Caesar Bacarella, and AJ Allmendinger, in that very order. As for Riley Herbst, he later shared  video of the crash from his social media account, with the caption, “We were in fact not clear,” followed by a facepalm emoji.

With the Xfinity Series returning next to the Daytona International Speedway for the Wawa 250 powered by Coca Cola, can the Brickyard 400 winner muster up some of his drafting track magic? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.