After Sunday's race on the roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway, NASCAR Cup Series rookie driver Riley Herbst will be 32 races into his freshman season. Herbst is very much looking forward to heading back onto the 20-degree backing of the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway trioval as the season heads into its final stretch.
“Yeah, I can’t wait to get back home,” said the Las Vegas resident. “It’ll be fun. Things are good. We’re learning each week and we’re getting better and it’s a lot of fun. Las Vegas is super-special. Obviously getting my first NASCAR win there was major for me. We’ll take the challenge head-on like we always do and see what we got.
Still, Herbst is enjoying the blend of racing circuits the Cup Series offers
“I think NASCAR does a really good job of mixing it all up and trying to give us so variety,” he said. “There are a lot of places on the schedule that hold special places in my heart. Obviously, Las Vegas does. I like Richmond. It’s a cool short track. Texas is a really fast mile and a half track that’s fun. I think Phoenix is really fun, as well.”
As for his first year Cup journey, it’s all still a full-on learning process.
“Yes, I’m learning every lap. It’s a whole new beast, this Cup car, so each lap we’re learning and each race we’re learning and we’re constantly trying to get better,” saif Herbst. “I think it has been a really good year of learning and constantly getting better. You have to dive headfirst into the deep end to learn how to swim. It’s been a great year. I couldn’t ask for anything more. Hopefully, we can close it all out with some good momentum and solid speed these last four or five races.”
Herbst attempted to explain the radical difference between the Xfinity Series and Cup Series.
“It’s so hard to describe. It’s just a ginormous step that people try to tell you about, but you don’t understand until you do it," he said. "It’s a lot, but everybody has to do it once. The rookie year is supposed to be hard for a reason. I love it. I love every single second of it. Getting to drive a race car for Monster Energy and 23XI Racing, it’s just a dream come true and it’s just so surreal. Every single weekend I hop in a race car, it’s just a real awesome moment.
And the Cup surroundings are certainly fierce for a first year driver fighting for his competitive life.
“The competition from first to 40th, anybody can go win that race. That’s the biggest difference from Cup and the Xfinity Series is good all the race car drivers are.”
Has Herbst had a favorite standout moment in the ‘25 Cup Series?
“Honestly, getting to run the first race of the year, the Daytona 500, and being a rookie in the Cup Series is a really special moment that I’ll always remember," he said. "The spring time and being back in Las Vegas and getting to drive around my home track in a Cup car, that’s something I’ve dreamed of for my whole life Those moments I’ll never forget and they’re pretty special.”
"The 'welcome to the Cup Series'moments are intense. There is no give, it’s all take. That’s been something to adjust to and just being on offense every single lap. I’ve had a lot of people around me and the atmosphere is amazing here This is the Cup Series. This is the highest level of motorsports in America and it’s just everything that I could have dreamed of.”
Herbst says he's benefited along the way from the support of his 23XI Racing teammates Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace.
“Tyler and Bubba are awesome. They’re both basically veterans in this series now, so they have so much experience," Herbst said. "They’re both really good and race winning race car drivers and I’m just trying to learn as much as I can from them and they’ve been phenomenal.”
Herbst is looking forward to the approaching mixed bag of Cup circuits, namely Talladega, Martinsville and Phoenix, that will conclude the 2025 season.
“It is a mixed bag!” said Herbst. “They’re all really fun racetracks. I wouldn’t be surprised if we go win Talladega. We’ve been fast there every single time that we’ve been in a Cup car. Yeah, anything can happen down in Alabama. It’s a lot of fun. It’s a fast racetrack. Yeah, I’m just looking forward to that. Then we got to Martinsville, which is two dragstrips and four corners. So you go as fast as you can, brake as hard as you can, turn, then drag race down the backside. It’s a really cool place with a lot of history. Then we’re ending in Phoenix, which is one of my favorite tracks.”
Herbst’s goals before the curtain drops?
“I want to up the consistency,” he said. “We’ve recently had top-20 finishes, which has been an improvement. That was good. We want to keep that up. We want to get those top-20 finishes and finish this season on a high note.
"We knew that this jump was going to be difficult, but everybody has to make this jump at some point. We’re taking it one step at a time and just trying to make the most of every opportunity.
“The team is awesome. They’re very, very modern and cutting edge. They’re always trying to push the envelope on trying to do things better and different than the ordinary. I like that. There is not a challenge too big for this race team. We always take it head on. It’s a really fun atmosphere.”