Riley Herbst. Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Riley Herbst to join 23XI Racing for 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season

By Samuel Stubbs | Last updated Nov 20, 2024 10:41 AM ET

23XI Racing has found the driver for its new NASCAR Cup Series entry in 2025.

On Wednesday, the organization announced Riley Herbst will pilot the team's third car in 2025, a long-expected move. 2025 will be the first season the team will have three cars.

23XI Racing names Riley Herbst as the driver of its new car, the No. 35 (the 3 from 23 and the 5 from 45 combined for 35). Monster to sponsor. Herbst brings crew chief Davin Restivio with him to 23XI as crew chief. TBD on charter status (supposed to acquire one from SHR).
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) November 20, 2024

The opportunity will be the first in full-time Cup Series competition for the 25-year-old from Las Vegas, Nev., who has eight Cup Series starts. Herbst's best Cup Series finish was a ninth-place effort at Talladega in October 2023. He finished 10th in his Daytona 500 debut in February of the same year.

The signing comes after Herbst put together the best year of his NASCAR Xfinity Series career, in which he won two races and finished seventh — a career-best mark — in the points standings.

Herbst's victories came at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 20, in which he passed Aric Almirola for the win on the final lap, and in the Xfinity Series Championship Race on Nov. 9, in which he passed champion Justin Allgaier for the race win in the final corner.

Now, Herbst has a chance to prove his doubters wrong and drive for one of the best teams in the Cup Series.

Samuel Stubbs

Hailing from the same neck of the woods as NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin, Samuel has been covering NASCAR for Yardbarker since February 2024. He has been a member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) since October of 2024. When he’s not writing about racing, Samuel covers Arkansas Razorback basketball for Yardbarker

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