Last spring, on May 18, 2025 to be exact, Riley Herbst placed 10th in the NASCAR All-Star Open at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina.
One year and three months later, the wheelman of the No. 35 23XI Racing Monster Energy Toyota will again look to the 0.625-mile short track oval for Sunday’s Window World 450 NASCAR Cup Series race.
Twenty rounds into the 2026 Cup Series, the Las Vegas native is currently slotted in at 25th in points with a total of three top 10 finishes. Determined to make it into the top 20 in overall points before the Cup season winds itself down to its conclusion at Homestead-Miami on Sunday, November 8, 2026, Herbst is looking to continue gaining momentum in an effort to reach his goal and is looking to make things happen in North Wilkesboro.
“I’m just in Charlotte and getting ready for the race this weekend,” said Herbst of his next stop on the NASCAR Cup Series tour. “I’m excited and getting ready for the weekend ahead. It’s always fun when you get to stay around the house and local. I mean North Wilkesboro is only an hour away from everybody, so it’s fun. You get to sleep in your own bed. I’m just really looking forward to it. Yeah, no airplanes this weekend, so that’s always good”
Herbst reflected back on the 2025 NASCAR All-Star race at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
“Yeah, I raced there last year,” explained Herbst of his North Wilkesboro Speedway experience. “It was just a exhibition race last year with the All-Star stuff, so yeah, this will be the first time everybody is going to be racing for points. North Wilkesboro is unique, it’s cool. It’s the first time we get a points race there in 30-plus years. It was a fun track to learn on the simulator and to understand. It’s a little over a five-eighths-mile, so cool short track racing under the lights in the summertime. It’s just a really exciting time. It’s summertime and everybody loves summertime racing under the lights. Yeah, hopefully it should be a good race.”
The last four Cup races have been a mixed bag for Herbst, While the San Diego Street Course and Chicagoland Speedway races brought top 10 finishes for the second year Cup driver, Herbst finished 30th at Sonoma Raceway and was 35th at last Subway’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
“Yeah, tell me about it,” sighed Herbst, 27. “Yeah, I mean with our season, our progress is showing. We’re running really well and we had a bad weekend last week at Atlanta. We got involved in a wreck, so that was very unfortunate and a tough thing to swallow. We were climbing in the points and we were closing in and we were getting those top 10s that you and I have been talking about. It was cool. Everything was starting to click. Hopefully, we can get it back on track here at North Wilkesboro and go after another top 10.
“I have to say the San Diego race was really fun,” furthered Herbst. “It was unique. I love the west coast, obviously. I loved swinging by Mobster Energy to see everybody. Yeah, grabbing a top 10, that was a good deal and we had a shot at the win there. Really cool. Really fun day. Chicagoland was also good. I thought we were a solid car all day. We had good pace. Chicagoland is such a fun track. It’s wide. It’s rough. A lot of bumps. Yeah, it’s so fast. We haven’t been there in six years, either. Making a return there was fun. The speed we had at Chicagoland was really something.”
Determined to hit his overall objective of getting into the top 20 in Cup points before the 2026 season closes down, Herbst is exactly 51 points behind 20th place driver Ross Chastain and keen to draft right on up to him.
“Yeah, honestly, we’re right there. Right before Atlanta we were within reaching distance of it. We’ve got to get back to work. It’s obtainable and like I told you, that’s our goal and that’s where we should be, for sure. The proof is in the progress, for sure. I feel like we’re running way better,” Herbst said. “Obviously, we had a little slipup, but our speed is there and our confidence is super high. We’ll keep working. The confidence is everything. Confidence in yourself, confidence in your team. Confidence in the ability to go out there and perform at the highest level of motorsports in America is something.
“Hopefully, we can do that. I think confidence takes time. It comes through preparation and I feel like our preparation is really high. Good preparation puts you in good position for good results. That’s what we’re trying to do and we’re trying to replicate that every single week. We want to keep working on the consistency from week-in and week-out. I think that is something that makes those top drivers in the sport so special. Their ability to perfume each week at a high level is incredible. We’ll get there. We’re getting there. We’re slowly chipping away at it.”
Herbst will not be returning to 23XI Racing for the 2027 NASCAR Cup season. Set to be replaced by Corey Heim next year, Herbst will leave the 23XI Racing outfit after a two-year stint.
“We’re close, we’re close,” said Herbst. “Not yet for sure, but hopefully in the next month or two. I wish I cold tell you more, but it’s not even in my hands right now. We’re trying to get everything finalized. I let everybody on the management side kind of handle that and I try to go do my best every weekend and perform at a high level. There are 16 races left I 2026 and it’s going by fast. Yeah, I think if we continue to do what we do, show up to the racetrack with fast race cars and execute at a high level, I think our goals are obtainable and we can continue to build on that.”
