NASCAR: Riley Herbst tipped to drive for Stewart-Haas Racing in 2021
By Asher Fair
Riley Herbst has been tipped to drive for Stewart-Haas Racing in the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series season following a stint with Joe Gibbs Racing.
Joe Gibbs Racing confirmed on Thursday that they would be parting ways with Riley Herbst following the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, his first season as the full-time driver of the #18 Toyota.
They confirmed that Daniel Hemric, who competed part-time for JR Motorsports behind the #8 Chevrolet this past season, is set to replace him beginning next year.
Herbst shared the following message on Twitter.
— Riley Herbst (@rileyherbst) November 12, 2020
However, multiple sources have indicated that Riley Herbst will be back in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2021, and with a competitive team.
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The 21-year-old Las Vegas, Nevada native has been tipped to land at Stewart-Haas Racing as the replacement for Chase Briscoe behind the wheel of the #98 Ford.
Following a nine-win season that saw him qualify for the Championship 4 for the first time, Briscoe is set to move to the Stewart-Haas Racing Cup Series team as the replacement for Clint Bowyer behind the wheel of the #14 Ford, as Bowyer has retired and is set to move to the Fox broadcast booth beginning in February.
In his lone full-time season with Joe Gibbs Racing, Herbst recorded top finishes of second place at Auto Club Speedway and Kentucky Speedway en route to a 12th place finish in the championship standings, the worst among the drivers who qualified for the playoffs.
He finished the 33-race season with four top five finishes, 17 top 10 finishes and an average finish of 16.0, the worst for any full-time Joe Gibbs Racing Xfinity Series driver since Brian Scott’s mark of 18.2 from 2012.
Teammates Brandon Jones and Harrison Burton won three races and four races en route to finishes of sixth and eighth place in the championship standings, respectively. Jones is set to return to the team next year while Burton is expected to be back as well.
At Stewart-Haas Racing, Herbst would be the lone driver, with all of the team’s focus centered around making him as competitive as possible. In fact, the only other full-time Ford driver in the series is Austin Cindric of Team Penske, the 2020 champion.
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The 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series season is scheduled to get underway on Saturday, February 13 at Daytona International Speedway with the NASCAR Racing Experience 300.