Race Weekend Central

Riley Herbst Driving Partial Xfinity Schedule for Joe Gibbs Racing

Joe Gibbs Racing announced Wednesday morning (Jan. 30) that Riley Herbst will be driving the No. 18 Toyota Supra on a part-time basis during the 2019 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.

Herbst will drive the No. 18 car in eight races, with sponsorship coming from Monster Energy. His first race will be at Richmond Raceway on April 12.

“To have Riley join our XFINITY program this season is a great continuation of what he’s been able to build with JGR the last two seasons running the ARCA series and XFINITY Series last year,” Steve de Souza, executive vice president of JGR Xfinity Series and evelopment, said in a press release. “We’re excited to be a part of his career and help him grow as a driver.”

Ben Beshore will be the crew chief for the No. 18 team, which will also see Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Jeffrey Earnhardt behind the wheel.

“We’ve got goals set for this year, and it would be cool to get my first win this season and take the new Supra to Victory Lane,” Herbst said. “2019 is going to be a fun year and I’m ready to get it started at Daytona in a few weeks.”

Herbst has one career NXS start, when he started ninth and finished sixth at Iowa Speedway in 2018.

Herbst will also drive seven races in the ARCA Series presented by Menards, sharing the No. 18 Toyota Camry with Ty Gibbs. His first ARCA race will be the season opener at Daytona International Speedway on February 9. Monster will sponsor this car for the full season.

Herbst has 39 career starts in ARCA, with a win at Pocono Raceway in 2017 to go along with a pole, 14 top-fives, 25 top-10s and 242 laps led.

Gibbs’ first of 12 races will be March 8 at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida.

“I’ve grown up around racing and it’s something that I love,” Gibbs said. “Running late models the last few years has been fun and helped me learn a lot, but to now move up to ARCA is a big step for me and a challenge I’m ready to tackle. This year should be fun learning new, bigger tracks and hopefully along the way we can grab a few wins.”

Herbst comes from a line of off-road racers that includes Tim Herbst and Troy Herbst. Ty Gibbs is the grandson of team owner Joe Gibbs and the son of Coy Gibbs.

About the author

Wesley has been with Fronstretch since October 2017. He loves well-told stories in whatever format he finds them. Aside from NASCAR, he enjoys reading, country music and OKC Thunder basketball. He has a BA in Liberal Arts/English and currently lives in eastern Oklahoma, where he works as a freelance writer/editor.

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