INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Riley Herbst bumped his way past Aric Almirola coming through the final turn Saturday, then held off hard-charging teammate Cole Custer to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ Pennzoil 250.
Herbst’s second career victory came by 0.167 seconds and gave Stewart-Haas Racing a second straight win. He also won on his home track in Las Vegas in October.
This time, though, Herbst spent three turns chasing down Almirola on the final lap before finally getting close enough to tap Almirola with his front bumper, dart to the inside and passed him for the lead with Herbst’s car sliding.
Custer finished second after reaching victory lane for the first time this season last week at Pocono. Almirola was third, also getting passed by Custer passed him on the inside of the front straightaway before reaching Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s yard of bricks.
The race was run on Indy’s 2.5-mile oval for the first time since moving to the speedway’s 14-turn road course in 2019.
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