As Xfinity Series breakout star Riley Herbst continues to turn heads—especially with his most recent win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, hopes for his future burn bright! So, it’s not a surprise that many would want to know what plans he has for his racing career.

The Stewart-Haas Racing star recently joined Conor Daly and Chase Holden on the ‘Speed Street’ podcast, where he was asked about his ‘Double Duty’ aspirations, after Kyle Larson. While Herbst showed his admiration for the challenge and Larson’s ambition, he made it quite clear that the idea of jumping into an Indy car is a distant dream. “That’s way out of my window for sure,” he remarked on episode 136 of Speed Street podcast. However, he was quick to add, “I’d love to drive one just to test one, it would be so awesome. I’m a pretty big Indy car fan myself as well.”

It is common for most of the drivers in NASCAR to be captivated by the appeal of the Indy 500. Since this is a historic race, known for its rich tradition and intense competition, it undoubtedly has a magnetic pull that draws drivers from all over to compete in it.

Since Riley Herbst is a self-declared Indy car enthusiast himself, he claimed that just getting to watch Larson take part in the event was thrilling enough for him and the team in the SHR garage. Although Larson’s attempt was met with mixed results, turbulent weather caused a major roadblock in his plans to participate in both races. While he did manage to finish 18th in the Indy 500, his hopes of racing in Charlotte were dashed when heavy rain delayed the NASCAR event.

But as far as Herbst’s ‘Double Duty’ future is concerned, wouldn’t be need to get himself into the Cup Series first? Well, we don’t know if you’ve heard but 23XI Racing might be eyeing the young driver for their third potential charter!

Team owner Denny Hamlin is impressed

25-year old Riley Herbst visited Victory Lane, in his Xfinity career-first outing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Now let that sink in. That’s exactly what 23XI Racing owner Denny Hamlin’s reaction was to the stupendous feat.

“Impressive”. One word that the Joe Gibbs Racing driver wrote on X, akin to a thousand words. The tweet also added fuel to the rumors about his move to the Cup Series backed by Hamlin and Michael Jordan. Herbst’s association with Cup Series sponsor Monster Energy might also work in his favor as further pointed by NASCAR journalist, Lee Spencer. “I think there’s a lot of things going on behind the scenes, but it’s not really just Riley Herbst, it’s Monster Energy as well. The biggest thing is trying to see what’s right for me, what’s right for Monster Energy,” she said.

As for Herbst’s overall performance in the 2024 season, he has nine Top-10s and four Top-5s till now. He’s currently sitting 5th on the Cup Series standings, 143 points behind leader Cole Custer.

The Xfinity Series is undoubtedly a fierce competition and has provided Riley Herbst with the opportunities to refine his techniques and strategies, in turn, allowing him to position himself as a driver to watch out for in the coming races.

Even though he may not be ready to make a solid move toward Indy car racing just yet, you can’t deny that Kyle Larson’s impact resonates throughout the NASCAR community. So who knows, maybe with his skill set and determination, the SHR driver might just surprise everyone and join Tony Stewart as one of the drivers who completed ‘The Double.’