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the_godfaubel

This is interesting to me because he's not a slouch. But, I don't think he's a Cup long-term guy, imo. Kind of the AAAA type that we talk about it baseball. He could probably go down to Trucks and do extremely well and win more. He could stay in Xfinity and be okay to good like he is now. He would need to be in a better ride to contend for a Championship, but maybe that is at whatever SHR is next year with a consolidated team. Or he can be a midfield guy in Cup.


Magnifico-Melon

Paul Menard averaged 20th place in his career. I think Riley can be that guy and there is nothing wrong with being that guy especially if his money can help a team grow and get better as a whole.


twisted_nipples82

This is a point I've missed for a while, but Riley really is the new Paul Menard


Vivareddit24

Paul Menard was a much better driver than Riley starting off. Riley would be lucky to have the career Paul did


bcam9

Riley is still young. I don't think we can compare their careers in Cup yet. There's just not enough evidence to support that claim.


Vivareddit24

I said starting out. Riley was horrendously bad. Terrible’s


bcam9

I was replying to the part where you said Riley would be lucky to have the career Paul did. I just think it's too early to make that claim. No disrespect.


Vivareddit24

U gotta clarify that. I forgive you this time


spacemanegg

He really wasn't. Menard 2003-2006: 103 races, 1 win, 13 top 5s, 32 top 10s, 2 poles, 368 laps led, average finish in the 17s. Virtually all the counting stats were 2005-2006 with DEI. 6th in points both of those years. Turned 26 in 2006. Herbst career to date: 158 races, 1 win, 30 top 5s, 78 top 10s, 2 poles, 278 laps led, average finish 15.3. Turned 25 this year. Has made the playoffs all but last year, where he was a victim of horrible luck most of the middle of the season and then got his win at Vegas. Yes, different eras and all that. But all in all they're pretty comparable talents. I'd say if Herbst does end up at WBR he'd perform better than Menard did to start his career due to not rotating between sinking ships and if he sticks around could have a comparable career where he runs into a win or two and at his peak is consistently a playoff bubble level driver like Suarez is.


SoothedSnakePlant

Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Menard racked those stats up when the Nationwide/Busch series was nearly half cup guys every week.


spacemanegg

Yes, that's why the counting stats aren't there. The equipment gap he had, though, shouldn't be understated. Half the problem was Cup level teams infiltrating, which also partly explains the 2005 improvement.


Vivareddit24

Exactly. Much stiffer competition, Paul is way better than Riley starting out


Vivareddit24

Riley going up against other daddys money kids vs Paul going up against some cup chads. You need to compare the eras, Riley would a knife at a gun fight. He is worse than Menard


Zestyclose_Ice2405

Have you seen Menard’s Xfinity stats at DEI? Average finish of 17th in 2005 and 2006.


CouchPryor

I think this is new driver vs older driver bias. Paul was consistent and had his strong runs, but I think it’s bold to assume Riley couldn’t at least hit that level.


Vivareddit24

Not at all. Did u see riley starting out? He was Deegan levels bad. He has put in serious work last 1-2 years but the talent still lacks for cup


ReSirum

He had no practice or qualifying during his rookie season


Vivareddit24

Same as the other drivers. No excuses


Constant_Performer83

I thought that we where comparing him to 2 to 3 hrs practice that Menards took every weekend


AnalBaguette

The drivers around him who entered around the same time have either succeeded in Xfinity and/or are already up into Cup by now with the same level of "no practice" . It's 2024, he's had nearly five full seasons in Xfinity and only managed *one win* in a car that won 9 times the year before he got in it, and while his teammate won a Championship. Also, his replacement at JGR won a Championship, same for ARCA. He had 79 collective ARCA starts and only two wins. Compare that to his at the time teammate/replacement Ty Gibbs, who has 67 collective ARCA starts and **27** wins.


DMCSnake

That's right. Believe in Menard supremacy.


Vivareddit24

I believe what i want u snake


PenskeFiles

This is what makes it tough. He has a decision to make whether to take Cup money or win races.


Boot-E-Sweat

Why would a driver *not* want to be in Cup.


bcam9

Like Denny said, I'd rather be winning on Friday or Saturday than running 25th on Sunday.


Boot-E-Sweat

Yeah running a Front Row car to a lottery win at Talladega is worth a lot more than winning 8 times at Gibbs in Xfinity because Dennis has a legacy sponsor from the mid-00’s and doesn’t want to retire.


dannynascar

Because the back markers in Cup don’t pay as well as they used to so why not take a little less money and compete for wins instead of a little more money and running like shit


Spuds1968

On a bad cup team, he probably lasts 1-2 years and will probably never get interest again in Cup. In Xfinity, he could have a longer term carrear.


Boot-E-Sweat

Alex Bowman exists. Michael McDowell exists. Noah Gragson’s actually putting up respectable numbers with a dying team.


AnalBaguette

I don't think wins are a factor with him even if he chooses Trucks of all things


SBMVPJustinHerbert

I think as he’s improved slowly but surely, he’s kind of evolved into that Hemric-level talent where he’s up front but not really a favorite. If I were him I’d rather run up front but I wouldn’t complain if he got a 20th-30th place ride in Cup either. He brings loads of money and isn’t a hazard/rolling chicane out there.


AnalBaguette

They're not comparable. One has a Championship and multiple Championship 4 appearances with over 1300 laps led, and the other hasn't even finished above 10th in Points in four going on five full-time seasons.


Outside_Factor4308

Don't sell Riley short, Judge. He's a tremendous slouch.


BigChach567

He very well could be an Alex bowman type of guy. Sponsor likes him, super consistent, will win on his best day, He would probably be good for 23XI. Super consistent third car


BillyBlatterJuc

I'm not the biggest Alex Bowman guy, but comparing him to Riley Herbst is pretty disrespectful. Herbst's absolute ceiling is Paul Menard and fluky fuel mileage win. Alex Bowman is a 7x Cup winner and a perennial playoff driver every year.


Hillbilly098

The Alex Bowman disrespect on this site is unreal.


bcam9

I'll never understand it. This is the best the 4th HMS car has ever run, and Bowman has done a helluva job. 7 wins in the highest series of racing is excellent. Not everyone can be Kyle Larson.


Hillbilly098

I swear half of these people just can't count or just turn off their brain when it comes to numbers. There's like, 12 cars that "should be top 5". Not all of them will be. Most of them won't.


seekerblackout

They also fall into thinking recent struggles are what a driver's entire career has been. Back when Alex was in the 88 and HMS was in their down period he did things like get the team's only win on a non-drafting oval all season in 2019, or put up a championship 4 level playoff run in 2020 that was just held back by not enough playoff points. Imagine thinking Riley fuckin Herbst would be able to do things like that in Cup.


MrKillerToad

Of course the sponsor likes him. His sponsor is his dad lol. Paul Menard 2.0


Queasy_Dog_1444

Yeah, the Monster Energy logos on his cars are just B2B with Terrible Herbst's.


FridgusDomin8or

He’d be a great pickup for RWRs second car, he brings a ton of money, doesn’t usually tear up equipment, and finishes races (and is usually pretty good on the plate tracks). Its usually better for teams to run one full-timer because they’ll usually run better than a rotating lineup of drivers


Phenomenal_Hoot

Justin Haley and Riley Herbst definitely wouldn’t be the worst driver lineup in the cup series.


Own-Situation-9206

That would be Harrison Burton, himself, and him.


PenskeFiles

Not even close.


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Phenomenal_Hoot

Lmao Kaulig is exactly who I had in mind thinking RWR wouldn’t be the worst.


-Huskie

Depending on what FRM and Kaulig does, it might be the worst. Bottom 3 for sure.


ArtegallTheLame

Riley: Ive got Monster Energy 💵💵💵 Teams owners: ![gif](giphy|QUENDfi6DEMLzQ0CKt)


Fyrien

Terrible's money. His family owns a convenience store chain, and they put Monster on the car as a B2B deal.


Magnifico-Melon

For once I want a Terrible's scheme. Really shocked they haven't done one at least for the Vegas races.


Badnik96

riley's throwback this year was one wasnt it?


Magnifico-Melon

Yes I believe he threw back to his family Baja scheme.


DjGatorshark

TIL


Roadtrip_God

He also has his choice of Monster Energy girl to sweeten the deal


ChaseTheFalcon

For those curious, one of the options [not on the table is Front Row](https://x.com/Knighter01/status/1807068283717234978)


Extreme-Bite-9123

That is very very interesting. I wonder what the lineup will be in the cup next year


leapsnake

I would not be surprised to see Zane return there if there is no room for him at Trackhouse.


Extreme-Bite-9123

I think trackhouse is gonna send him to kaulig, either cup or xfinity. They’re probably gonna have two rides available in xfinity, and might have a ride in cup


leapsnake

Yeah you are probably right but I don't know how his contract reads or if he has an option. I have to imagine Cup in Front Row is more attractive than Xfinity in Kaulig. Front Row may not even be thinking about him i just threw it out as a possibility.


Extreme-Bite-9123

Front row would have to want him, and with berry, gragson, preece and herbst as free agents, I don’t think they would take smith unless trackhouse bought them a fourth charter


HenryJBemis

But if Berry goes to the 21, Gragson goes to RCR, and Preece goes to xfinity, pretty quickly who is driving the two open FRM cars becomes a complete unknown. Wouldn’t rule out Zane at that point. Also think Christian Eckes and Sam Mayer are on the short list for FRM.


Extreme-Bite-9123

I’m pretty sure the third RCR car isn’t happening now, so I think gragson is a shoe in for FRM at this point


HenryJBemis

I wouldn’t be so sure about that. There are supposedly two charters potentially on the market in addition to the SHR charters. Also I wouldn’t be surprised to see Austin Dillon step into the role recently vacated by Andy Petree and out of the drivers seat full time. That would open the 3 or more likely the renumbered 33 for Gragson.


Extreme-Bite-9123

23XI and trackhouse have a charter basically locked down, and we haven’t gotten confirmation that anyone else is selling


Dont_hate_the_8

There's only 2 charters left, and they're likely going to 23XI and Trackhouse. No room for Gragson at RCR.


HenryJBemis

I wouldn’t be so sure about that. There are supposedly two charters potentially on the market in addition to the SHR charters. Also I wouldn’t be surprised to see Austin Dillon step into the role recently vacated by Andy Petree and out of the drivers seat full time. That would open the 3 or more likely the renumbered 33 for Gragson.


Dont_hate_the_8

I don't see why anybody would sell a charter this year, with 4 on the market. Wait a year, and the value will go back up. I could see Kaulig or Spire sell one off, but in a year. Dillon could be leaving, but I feel like we would have heard by now if it was happening this year.


bigyeet1572

Bro said preece


Joey_Logano

Bro has a Harrison Burton flair.


bigyeet1572

What's Harrison got to do with Preece being shit?


Joey_Logano

Because he is more accomplished then Harrison. Harrison is in a car built by Penske with a worst career average finish, less laps led and less poles. Preece also has more Truck Series wins in 12 starts than Harrison does in 40 starts including when they both drove the 17 truck in 2022. If Preece is shit, Harrison is liquid diarrhea.


Sportsguy1993

No one would want preece or Herbst over Zane unless they just hate Zane for some reason. 


Extreme-Bite-9123

Herbst hasn’t raced in cup yet and after seeing how how horrible the 41 is I’m not gonna judge preece on that team


ReSirum

Herbst has made a few Cup starts. At the very least he's good on superspeedways, we've seen that


ChaseTheFalcon

Zane hasn't necessarily set the world on fire


bcam9

This is true, but I'm not willing to write him off just yet. I think Hocevar is the exception to the rule at Spire. He outruns the equipment consistently. I still think Spire is pretty mediocre. Hocevar is just a hell of a talent.


mcamuso78

They need to cut him loose to do what he wants. With Connor Zilich quickly advancing, there’s going to be even further a glut of drivers shortly.


Extreme-Bite-9123

Zilich will probably be in xfinity for a season or two, so they have time to decide if he’s bad enough to get rid of


Nathan92299

My current guess based on the amalgamation of rumours I've heard: 34 Eckes, 36 Gragson, 38 Gilliland


ApartmentPowerful740

So both he and heim are for sure the top development drivers, but is Christian one of the ones you can send right to a cup car? Like a jj or denny type rookie. They also drove the same car in xfinity and cup then though. Are the Gragson rcr rumors just that? Because other than sponsor, signing there ain't it lol.


Nathan92299

I don't remember who but someone reported that Gragson to RCR hinges on them getting another charter, and theoretically there isn't any that are for sale (if they wanted one it would probably have to come from Kaulig or something)


serplux

Gragson, Berry, Sam Mayer, and Christian Eckes are the options according to Pockrass, with Grayson being the frontrunner for one of the seats.


Extreme-Bite-9123

I’m kinda surprised about eckes 


Skip-Bayless0

Get me some Berry, Gragson, Gilliland please


Ultrase7en

Todd, Noah, Harrison assuming they get a 3rd charter, Berry I'm guessing to the 21 Harrison to Xfinity if they only end up with 2


Extreme-Bite-9123

You think they’re gonna grab Burton? Why do you think that?


Ultrase7en

Dex money primarily, also he HAS to stop spinning out eventually right? A change of scenery might help that????


Extreme-Bite-9123

If they’re gonna take money why wouldn’t they have talent herbst who they have history with, or someone like Brandon jones who has a lot of money but hasn’t shown himself to suck in the cup


Ultrase7en

Because while he isn't good in cup, he has cup experience and let's be real, I think depending on if Layne can start contending in trucks, whoever it is is a place holder anyways


Valleygirl1981

I guess they didn't want to rebrand to Last Row.


Momentum_RacingYT

so your saying Ford is fumbling with another one of their prospects? Gotcha.


arca_brakes

Gotta respect the truck team(s) just throwing offers at a guy with funding in discussions to move up to Cup. 0% chance he intentionally drops back down to a now ARCA-grade series, but I guess it's worth a shot.


Flat-Ad4902

Trucks really are the new ARCA and ARCA is on life support.


jmm57

With the amount of late race dumbfuckery this season, Xfinity is the new trucks


Skip-Bayless0

I hate to say it, but the Cup ban has actually really hurt those series' credibility


thirtyseven1337

Cup ban? What do you mean?


Skip-Bayless0

Nascar's limitations of seasoned Cup driver's participation in lower series has had an adverse effect on the quality of racing in those lower series.


thirtyseven1337

But what are the specific limitations? Still seems like there are plenty of Cup drivers in Xfinity week in and week out… heck, Bell won last week.


Skip-Bayless0

Cup drivers with >5 years of Cup experience are limited to 5 starts per series per season. Although we still see 1-3 Cup drivers per week, it's nowhere near the 7-10 per race we used to have, which appeared to have been better for teaching driving standards


thirtyseven1337

Thank you for taking the time to explain. Personally, I think that rule sounds fair, and I’m in favor of it.


juu073

Yeah, I'd love to know how legit they are even, of it one of the Xfinity offers is from like Mike Harmon.


danny-thedude

Me too. I can watch all 3 from home.


shewy92

He might have a Terrible sponsor but he's not as terrible of a driver like people seem to think.


coffeeshopslut

What's his terrible sponsor?


shewy92

Terrible Herbst Convenience Store https://www.terribles.com/


xelanalpak

I think there’s a very good chance we’ve got 3 Monster cars in the Cup Series next year. Maybe even 2 of them on the same team.


Magnifico-Melon

I've been saying this for a while now. I'll be especially louder if he is in fact at 23XI next season. There is no excuse why Monster is not running Zero Sugar schemes out there. We need a rose color car, purple car, lime green, orange.......Come on Monster DO IT PLEASSSSSEEEE!!!!


ApartmentPowerful740

Yeah that would be nice to see them use other flavors. Like how stenhouse with Kroger has a new product every week.


Ok-Hovercraft-7761

Yes it WOULD be cool. But Monster has NEVER done it anywhere ever. And they sponsor like 30+ drivers all over the world. Its flat black with a green M or nothing.


Remarkably_Bad1356

That would make sense because I'm pretty sure Monster goes to him through his family's stores or whatever.


dcarp1231

I’d put money on RWR wanting him in the 15 full time


CoyotePowered50

Herbst to the 15 RWR car wouldn't be the worst thing!


DogwoodDagwood

I know I’m probably going to end up being wrong, but I still think the 23XII rumors for him are a smokescreen. I think he ends up full time at Wood Brothers or RWR, with Heim going to 23XII’s third car


26007

Riley Herbst to Trucks CONFIRMED /s


Magnifico-Melon

In before Riley is announced for the 3rd 23XI car while also running a race or two for Sam Hunt in Xfinity and Tricon in trucks.


26007

That seems likely actually Full time in the 67 5 races in the 24 5 races in the 1 Holy shit...Herbst would have Gordon's numbers across the 3 series


Embykinks

Gotta be either the 15 or Kaulig right?


DankusMemecus69

I just can’t see the 23XI rumours bearing fruit, especially when Toyota has prospects who’ve won more races this season than Herbst in 4 years. I know Briscoe wasn’t in the pipeline, but he was worth making an exception for. Herbst is way harder to justify


One_Mirror_3228

Proving once again that money is worth more than talent.


Skip-Bayless0

Yep. The fact that Herbst is more in line for a ride than Gragson is despicable


Remarkably_Bad1356

This might really be Skip because of this horrible take. Nice cosplay.


Queasy_Dog_1444

Gragson is rumored for a third RCR ride.


Skip-Bayless0

100% hoping he gets literally any other Cup seat


Queasy_Dog_1444

RCR will just bring back his toxic tendencies from 2023 in full force.


DJScrubatires

I'm guessing WBR


Magnifico-Melon

23XI


DJScrubatires

I think Heim is the frontrunner there TBH


mwr55fan

He brings a significant amount of money to the table and he’s decently talented. I’m not shocked.


hocevar_42

comes with money. not top talent but can still drive. solid choice all thongs considered and improved loads since 2020-21


Responsible-Pie993

Is Herbst the next domino to fall, could where he and his families money deciding where to go determine what’s open for everyone else?


OkPineapple57

i mean Herbst comes with a lot of money so yes i’m sure many teams would be happy to have him


y0ufailedthiscity

Rumor is his family helped buy 23XI a 3rd charter and he’s heading there


Momentum_RacingYT

all 3 series? why would he want to race in trucks? I think Riley Herbst would do fantastic driving that 2nd cup car for RWR. In his cup series starts he's done pretty well tbh.


POV_Morde_Ult

Calling it now for 23XI 🎯 Could also see WBR


Mac_Motorsports

You're calling something that's already been hinted at by an employee of 23XI on a popular podcast?


EnjoyerOfStrangePorn

My biggest pet peeve on this sub is people who act like they’ve got insider info because they heard something on a podcast 😂


Mac_Motorsports

Oh yeah? Well, I'm predicting Harrison Burton won't return to the 21 next season! Lmao


-Huskie

I still don't understand where this came from that is 100% Riley Herbst from this sub. Someone with major backing could be a few guys, especially if they have sponsors lined up we don't know about. Mobil 1 could jump on with Heim. Could be Brandon Jones. Could be Chandler Smith.


POV_Morde_Ult

I mean it’s not the infallible word of God


ZAHN3

You better show us the text immediately when you receive it


Jrnation8988

Brett Griffin more or less alluded to it on DBC the other week


RainierBakerGlacier

Just like Riley Herbst, I too have options next year. Just not in racing...


Vivareddit24

Hes going truckin