Haas Factory Team has an announcement Saturday at Michigan to unveil its Xfinity Series driver lineup. Based on comments from Riley Herbst, he will not be a part of this press conference as he examines his future options.
Herbst, who won the Xfinity Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, met with media members ahead of Friday evening's practice and qualifying sessions. He addressed a question about Stewart-Haas Racing's impact on his life and career but also reiterated that he hasn't made a decision about where he will race next season.
"Obviously, I don't know what that next step is, so hopefully we can get that figured out here shortly," Herbst told media members at Michigan International Speedway.
"But Stewart-Haas Racing -- like I've said multiple times to multiple people -- picked me up when I got pushed out the door so I owe a lot to Greg Zipidelli and obviously Tony Stewart and everybody over there for not only like helping me become who I am as a person but as a race car driver as well."
The comments at Michigan are in line with what Herbst has previously said about his future. He has confirmed multiple times that he has offers across all three national NASCAR series to race full-time.
Multiple reports have linked him to 23XI Racing if the Cup Series team acquires a third charter.
On paper, it would be simple enough for Herbst to pick the spot where he wants to compete. After all, he could just pick the most competitive car out of the options. However, this is only part of the process.
The reason, as Herbst explained at Nashville in June, is that multiple parties are involved in the decision-making process. It does not simply boil down to what he wants.
"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," he said at Nashville.
"The biggest thing is trying to see what's right for me, what's right for Monster Energy. I have really good people around me with Josh Jones and Kevin Harvick trying to guide me in the right position and I'm gonna lean on their experience."
Herbst will continue to examine possible options for his racing future as he prepares for another playoff appearance. Haas Factory Team will move forward by unveiling its newest driver lineup, one that sources say will potentially include Joe Gibbs Racing driver Sheldon Creed.