Riley Herbst ended the last year on a high note. He won his first career Xfinity Series race in October 2023 and what made the win even sweeter is that he won it in his hometown! But somehow he has since lost that momentum.

This season, Herbst encountered plenty of setbacks and has found it hard to find his footing. But he is still full of determination to change this situation and succeed. Recently, during a press event, he expressed his eagerness to change this narrative.

Riley Herbst on performance, progress, and his path forward

In a recent press event, Riley Herbst opened up and addressed various questions from the press. The press asked about the rocky road he has been on since the beginning of the year. He expressed how he is excited to flip the coin at Dover.

He said, “I think it’s been categorically up and down, to say the least. I think we’ve had top-five speed at every single racetrack we’ve gone to, except for probably COTA. COTA was pretty dismal. So once we washed that away, I felt like we’ve been in the top five and have gotten stage points, top five stage points at every racetrack and just made a kind of silly mistakes to finish out the races and haven’t got good finishes. But I feel like we’ve kind of flipped that script now. And hopefully, we can continue that and head on here to Dover.”

While having determination and this drive to succeed is important, only time will tell what his upcoming races witness. Meanwhile, he seems to have infuriated Hailie Deegan over a certain incident on track.

Deegan was baffled by Herbst

Hailie Deegan, during the last lap of the NASCAR Xfinity Series race in Talladega, was leading the middle line and needed the final winning push from the fellow Ford driver. But the last thing she expected was Riley Herbst to pass her around the high line!

Completely baffled by Herbst’s conduct, she was heard telling the team, “He’s f***ing kidding me? I can’t believe the #98 did that.” 

Herbst was later asked about this incident to which he replied, “I don’t know, there was nothing to answer. I mean, I feel like I’ve watched it, I’ve heard everybody’s opinions. I just don’t understand. Like, am I not allowed to pass people on a green-white-checkered? Like, it’s just kind of baffling to me a little bit. I mean, we finished second.” 

What do you guys think about Herbst’s performance till now? Do you think he is an underdog who is going to surprise everyone?