No Roval, no problem for Herbst as Charlotte comes around

As the curtain starts to come down on his sophomore NASCAR Cup season, Riley Herbst is keen to close out his stint with 23XI Racing on a high note, starting with this weekend’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Emphasis on the speedway part.

“No. No, I won’t miss the Roval,” admits Herbst of the 2.32-mile infield road course that the fall race weekend at CMS previously used, but has reverted to the 1.5-mile oval for 2026. “Not many of us are too much of fans of the Roval, so I think we’re all glad to see that gone.”

Will he be glad to see the back of this season too? To date, Herbst has claimed three top-10 finishes in 31 2026 races in the No. 35 Monster Energy Toyota.

“We obviously want to finish off strong,” he says. “I thought last weekend in Vegas was a solid run for us. We had top-10 potential, for sure. We just had some execution miscues which cost us a few spots. We ended up 18th and I thought our speed was there. Hopefully, if we continue to bring that pace for the next five weeks, it will be a solid end of the year.

Lots to look forward to in the near and longer term for Herbst. Chris Graythen/Getty Images

“There are a lot of solid tracks coming up for us in this final five. Charlotte is great. We love Phoenix and Homestead is really fun. I also think we can go win at Talladega, for sure. That’s always in the cards. It’s such a fun atmosphere down there in Alabama and it’s a lot more fun when you have a really fast car like we do.

“We’re all in it together. All of us, and collectively as a group, we’re here to finish off strong. Once that’s over with, then we can kind of look forward. Our mindset is on these final five races and just trying to figure out how we can execute to the best of our ability.”

With his move to Legacy Motor Club for 2027, Herbst is even more enthused about what's ahead for him in the longer term.

“Jimmie (Johnson)’s just a true racer and genuinely a good dude. I’m excited to join his team and start the future," Herbst says. "He is, honestly, one of my childhood heroes. I’m still thrilled and excited for the opportunity because Jimmie is building something special and hopefully we can be a part of it and take it to the top.

“It should be a big year for us. We have all the tools we need. We have a great team owner and a great team. I’m excited for the new chapter and the new challenge and getting to work with everybody over there.”

But 2026 isn't over yet. In fact, he still has more than NASCAR's Final Five to look forward to...

“I think we might go race the Baja 1000,” he relates. "That should be fun.”