After posting career-high numbers in the NASCAR Xfinity Series this season, Riley Herbst will return to the second-tier series for his third straight season with Stewart-Haas Racing, the team announced on Tuesday.
The Monster is back and stronger than ever.@rileyherbst returns to the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang for 2023. pic.twitter.com/Ta75BwVWjM
— Stewart-Haas Racing (@StewartHaasRcng) November 15, 2022
Herbst, who collected a career-high eight top-five and 20 top-10 results this year, has made the NASCAR Xfinity Series post-season in his three full-time campaigns, where he has also amassed two poles, and a total of 54 top-10s.
Monster Energy, a long-time supporter of Herbst’s racing efforts across several divisions, will return as the anchor partner of the No. 98 Ford Mustang in 2023, as it has in the previous two seasons.
The news of Herbst’s return to Stewart-Haas Racing in 2023, fills up a Ford-backed vacancy in the second-tier series for 2023, closing up a potential avenue in which Hailie Deegan could fall into for next season. At this time, no announcement has been made surrounding Deegan’s future, other than that she’ll continue her tenure as a Ford Performance driver.
For more information on how Silly Season for the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series season is shaping up, visit TobyChristie.com’s Driver / Team Chart:
If Herbst can finally be able to win races at this level over the next 1-2 years with Cole Custer’s help, SHR can hopefully put him at last in the No.10 once Almirola is ready to retire for good this time after Kevin Harvick which is widely expected to happen after 2023. Preece also shouldn’t have to move from one car team to another after one season in the No.41 as he deserves his opportunity. Remember when he had a good rookie Cup year back in 2019 in the No.47 at JTG Daugherty Racing but once Chris Buescher returned to Roush, He took his spot in the No.37 and it hasn’t been the same since then & JTG let him go by the time they moved back to a one-car team at the end of 21′.