Riley Herbst has won his way into the playoffs after a wild finish at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The Las Vegas native won his second career race after taking the lead from teammate Cole Custer and Joe Gibbs Racing's Aric Almirola in the final two laps.
MORE: Herbst wins, full Xfinity results
MORE: Xfinity driver points
Custer crossed the line second. Almirola was third. Shane van Gisbergen was fourth as he continued to showcase improvement on oval tracks. Sheldon Creed, Austin Hill, Daniel Dye, AJ Allmendinger, Justin Allgaier, and Carson Kvapil rounded out the top 10.
REPOST TO CONGRATULATE RILEY HERBST!
HE PASSES ARIC ALMIROLA TO WIN THE #XfinitySeries RACE ON THE INDIANAPOLIS OVAL. pic.twitter.com/QSMxdZY1E8
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) July 20, 2024
"This is hallowed ground," Herbst said after the race. "This is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Every person in the world wants to race here, and I won here.
"I don't care if it is the Xfinity Series, the Cup Series or the go-kart track out back. This is the Brickyard. This is the coolest racetrack in the world."
A multi-car crash involving Anthony Alfredo, Josh Williams, and Parker Retzlaff nearly changed the outcome of the race. Herbst had the dominant car, and he was ahead of Custer as the end of the race drew near. However, he lost his lead on the Lap 90 restart while Custer jumped to the front of the pack.
Custer built up a lead of more than a second as the laps clicked down, but Herbst was able to chase down his teammate once again. He caught the No. 00 Ford with two laps to go and then dove to the bottom of the track.
Herbst took the lead, but he did not cruise to the win. Instead, Almirola passed him and Custer both to take the lead on the final lap.
The driver of the No. 98 had to settle back in and chase down the Joe Gibbs Racing driver. He made the pass coming out of Turn 3 and pulled away for the final time. He also did so after sliding through a turn.
Stage 1: Herbst won the opening stage. Allmendinger finished second. Ryan Sieg, Brandon Jones, Allgaier, Custer, Parker Kligerman, Almirola, Kvapil, and Matt DiBenedetto all scored stage points.
Stage 2: Sieg stayed out on older tires while the rest of the field stopped on pit road. He won the one-lap shootout that ended stage 2, and he locked up a playoff point.
Almirola crossed the line second. Herbst, Allmendinger, Allgaier, Custer, van Gisbergen, Hill, Leland Honeyman Jr., and Creed all scored stage points.
Notable: With Herbst winning at Indianapolis, only four spots remain in the Xfinity playoff field. Allmendinger is 102 points above the cutline while Creed is 69 points above the cutline. Kligerman (+46) and Sieg (+3) are the other two drivers currently in playoff spots.
Next: NASCAR is idle for the next two weeks due to NBC's coverage of the Paris Olympics. Xfinity teams will actually be idle for three weeks. They will not return to action until Saturday, Aug. 17, when they compete at Michigan International Speedway.