Boy, that was fun, wasn’t it?
Riley Herbst got by his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Cole Custer approaching the white flag at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but as Herbst went below the No. 00, Aric Almirola went above and into the lead. Then, on the final corners, Herbst got to Almirola’s left rear and passed the No. 20, grabbing his first NASCAR Xfinity Series win of the season.
Custer also got by Almirola for second on the frontstretch. Shane van Gisbergen took fourth, and Sheldon Creed rounded out the top five.
Winners
Herbst broke a winless streak dating back to last fall at Las Vegas Motor Speedway where he earned his first career victory. He led nearly a third of the laps at Indy en route to the win, with Custer leading the majority of laps.
It’s SHR’s second-consecutive win after quite a drought for both drivers. While Custer and Herbst were doing well in points before their victories, a win was still elusive until this month. Now both drivers are secured in the playoffs, that is, as long as five new drivers don’t win the next several races.
Ford’s also had a good run as of late, with Ty Majeski winning the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park on Friday (July 19). The manufacturer also won five of the last nine NASCAR Cup Series races, with reigning champion Ryan Blaney taking home two of those wins.
Can Ford continue its winning ways after the Olympic break? We’ll have to wait and see.
Almirola had an impressive return to Xfinity after reportedly getting suspended for an altercation between him and fellow Toyota driver Bubba Wallace earlier in the year. It likely would’ve been even more impressive had he won the race, but still, he was in the running for it within the final two laps.
The Cup veteran showed that his time away didn’t slow him down on the way to his fourth top five of the year.
Almirola also somehow avoided contact with almost anything and anyone when he did two 360s with less than 35 laps in the race. He put on fresh tires after the spins, which helped his speed on the 2.5-mile rectangular oval.
Almirola’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Creed also had a good finish after an engine blew in practice, forcing him to start from the rear. While not ideal, better for it to happen well before the race rather than during the race (like what’s happened to Creed and several other Gibbs cars this year). Creed was in the top 10 for quite a bit…
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