CUP: Riley Herbst the second-straight Roval disqualification by failing minimum weights
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: 23XI Racing, @23XIRacing
Riley Herbst picked up the 4th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway “Roval” Road Course when his #35 Monster Energy Zero Sugar Toyota finished 30th, but was disqualified after he completed 108 of 109 laps.
The finish, which came in Herbst’s 40th series start, was his series-leading fourth of 2025 and first since August 23, 2025 at Daytona, six races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 14th for the #35, the 34th by disqualification, and the 199th for Toyota. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 38th for the #35, the 67th by disqualification, and the 430th for Toyota.
With the finish, Herbst takes the overall lead in the 2025 LASTCAR Cup Series Championship from Josh Berry. He now leads by a finish with four races to go.
Austin Cindric picked up the 4th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway “Roval” Road Course when his #2 Menards / Richmond Water Heaters Ford finished under power, completing 87 of 109 laps.
The finish, which came in Cindric’s 147th series start, was his first of the season and first in a Cup Series race since March 10, 2024 at Phoenix, 64 races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 31st for the #2, the 45th while still running, and the 766th for Ford. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 44th for the #2, the 62nd while running under power, and the 1,080th for Ford.
Sunday’s race was won by Shane Van Gisbergen, who set a single-season rookie record with his fifth victory on the year – all on road courses. Herbst had been Van Gisbergen’s only full-time competitor for Rookie of the Year, a battle settled when Herbst scored his most recent last-place finish, a crash in the regular season finale at Daytona. In these first five races of the Playoffs, Herbst scored his best finish at Bristol, taking 18th, and came to the Charlotte “Roval” off back-to-back 22nd-place finishes at Loudon and Kansas, each on the lead lap. In five XFINITY starts on the Roval, Herbst earned a best finish of 4th in 2023, but failed to finish three of the remaining four.
This return to the infield road course didn’t go much better for Herbst. In opening practice, where he ranked 22nd of the 37 entrants with a lap of 87.881 seconds (93.399mph), he lost control exiting Turn 5 in the infield. The car spun 180 degrees before slapping the tire barrier with the right-front, briefly hopping the car onto its left-side tires before it landed on all four. The damage was minor enough for repairs to be completed in time for qualifying, where he timed in 23rd with a lap of 87.360 seconds (93.956mph). But unapproved adjustments incurred him a tail-end penalty along with the #43 TriState Vacuum & Rental LLC Toyota of 37th and last-place qualifier Erik Jones, the lone driver unable to complete a qualifying lap.
When the race started, Jones and Herbt were the last two cars on the inside line, each splitting 36th-place starter Austin Dillon in the #3 Titan Risk Solutions Chevrolet. The inside line got a better pull out of the final chicane, putting Jones up to 35th, 6.426 seconds back of the lead to Dillon’s 36th-place 6.534 and Herbst remaining in last, 6.942 seconds back of the leader.
At the same instant, trouble broke out at mid-pack when Carson Hocevar’s #77 Modo Casino Chevrolet bumped Kyle Busch’s #8 Bank OZK Chevrolet, causing Busch to slap the outside wall with the right side of his car. The caution didn’t fall, and Busch limped around the track with the right-rear wheel pointed the wrong direction, a sure sign of toe link damage. “Go to the DVP area, what the fuck are we coming to the pit box for?” said his crew. Busch pulled behind the wall past Chris Buescher’s crew at Stall 36. While this entrance was short of the starting line, Busch crossed the stripe in the garage, completing his first lap of the day.
In the garage, the crew had Bush turn the steering wheel back and forth, then on Lap 8 lowered the hood. The team then brought out several rolls of tape and bear-bond of various sizes, adding much of it to the nose and the right-front fender. The team made further repairs to the right side until Lap 12, when Busch fired his engine and returned to the track. He didn’t stop in his pit box at Stall 17, which was just past the starting line. Busch’s crew said the car was still smoking badly on different parts of the track. His first lap at speed on Lap 14 clocked in at 103.432, well below minimum speed of 97.46 seconds. The next time by, he clocked in at 89.893, clearing minimum speed. Now 10 laps down after his repairs, Busch was told to stretch his tires to the end of Stage 1 on Lap 25. This was a challenge as the car’s toe was still off, and Busch radioed that it felt like something was still bent in the front of the car. “I know it sucks,” his crew told him. “But I appreciate you hanging in there.”
Meanwhile, another struggling driver was Playoff contender Austin Cindric in the #2 Menards / Richmond Water Heaters Ford. Ranked 12th and last among the incoming Playoff contenders, Cindric was practically in a must-win situation to advance after the day’s cutoff. But early on, he incurred a stop-and-go penalty for cutting the course, then spun on Lap 10, dropping him to the last car on the lead lap in 36th. On Lap 33, shortly after Busch got one of his laps back for the Stage 1 ending caution, Cindric was himself bumped by Hocevar midway through the frontstretch chicane at Turn 17. As both inched their way around the track, Hocevar followed Cindric down pit road with a flat tire on the #77. Cindric’s crew found a snapped toe link, and on Lap 35, his car was pushed behind the wall.
Cindric’s crew set to work on repairs in Garage Stall 43, but these repairs took much longer than they had for Busch. On Lap 44, Busch was “plowing right everywhere,” but had since closed the gap on Cindric, dropping the #2 to last place. Now running nine laps down, Busch lost the “Lucky Dog” spot to Hocevar, who lost a lap after his cut tire in the Cindric incident. Cindric’s repairs continued through the end of Stage 2 on Lap 51, his Ford still jacked up on the right side. Finally on Lap 54, the crew bolted on fresh tires, and on Lap 55, Cindric re-fired his engine, backed out of the stall, and returned to the track. He came up to speed a full 21 laps down to Busch’s nine. Cindric trailed the field by open track for the Lap 56 restart, then immediately cleared minimum speed with a lap of 94.678 seconds.
Since Hocevar got his lap back at the end of Stage 2, Busch got his second lap back on Lap 58, when a game of bumper tag between Austin Dillon’s #3 and the #38 Long John Silver’s Ford of Zane Smith led to Smith punting Dillon into the Turn 5 wall. Dillon managed to stay on the lead lap despite significant nose and driver’s side damage, and his teammate Busch was now eight laps back of the field. Dillon, too, cleared minimum speed and climbed to 33rd on Lap 63. Around four laps later, Busch caught Herbst exiting the frontstretch chicane and gave him a bump, sending Herbst into a spin. Herbst had already received damage on the driver’s side of his car after Cindric’s earlier spin, but remained under power after both incidents.
On Lap 90 and with 19 to go, Cindric was still in last place, and still 21 laps down, when Brad Keselowski’s #6 Castrol Oil Ford suddenly slowed down the backstretch. Keselowski made a hard left turn at the chicane and passed through an opening into the infield, where he crawled to the garage area. On Lap 93, he stopped perpendicular to SRI’s hauler in the garage, and his onboard camera shut off the next time by. Citing drivetrain issues, NASCAR declared him out on Lap 96. On Lap 100, Busch climbed past Keselowski into 35th, but Cindric was going to be two laps short of climbing out of last. An overtime finish likely would have changed that result. But the last 48 laps finished under green, during which Cindric lost a 22nd lap, putting him two laps behind Keselowski at the checkered flag.
Herbst, meanwhile, was among the drivers who were lapped in the final green-flag run, ultimately crossing the stripe in 30th position. But in post-race inspection, the #35 failed postrace weights. And as with Alex Bowman, who suffered that exact penalty in this very race last year (and also after his car caught air during the weekend), Herbst was disqualified. The disqualification bumped Cindric out of last place, and Josh Bilicki out of the Bottom Five in his #66 Truan Equipment Ford. Cindric, Keselowski, and Busch took the next three spots in the Bottom Five, a group now completed by Cody Ware in the #51 Parts Plus-Pronto Ford.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first time the #35 finished last by disqualification in a Cup Series race.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
37) #35-Riley Herbst / 108 laps / disqualified
36) #2-Austin Cindric / 87 laps / running
35) #6-Brad Keselowski / 89 laps / drivetrain
34) #8-Kyle Busch / 100 laps / running
33) #51-Cody Ware / 108 laps / running
2025 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) 23XI Racing, Trackhouse Racing (4)
2nd) Hendrick Motorsports, Kaulig Racing, Wood Brothers Racing (3)
3rd) Garage 66, Legacy Motor Club, Penske Racing, Rick Ware Racing (2)
4th) Front Row Motorsports, Hyak Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, NY Racing Team, RFK Racing, Richard Childress Racing, Spire Motorsports (1)
2025 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (14)
2nd) Ford (10)
3rd) Toyota (7)
2025 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
