Pit This Time may earn a commission when you buy through links on this page. It never affects our coverage. Learn more.
Riley Herbst said he was OK after his heavy crash late in Sunday’s YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, but radio audio from his 23XI Racing team showed crew members pleading for an answer from him and complaining that safety crews went to Joey Logano‘s overturned car first.
Herbst left the track with his left wrist and forearm wrapped and a soft cast on his left hand. The extent of the injury has not been made public.
Herbst: ‘It was a big one’
Herbst spoke on the USA Sports post-race show after he was checked at the infield care center and released.
“Yeah, I’m okay, thank you. It was a big one, but just thank you to 23XI Toyota for their support,” Herbst said. “It’s been an up-and-down year to say the least, so I thought we had a shot at it there at the end. We got shuffled out a little bit but came back and ultimately just got caught up in that wreck at Talladega. My dad always said if you’re gonna be dumb, you better be tough. So cheers.”
What the radio showed
Audio from the No. 35 team’s radio after the crash was posted on X. The team had warned Herbst he was about to hit again, then got no answer from him after the second impact.
“Are you alright? Talk to me. Talk to me please. You alright, Riley?” a team member said.
“We’re going to probably need medical,” a team member said later. As Herbst stayed silent, a team member said safety workers were heading to Logano, whose car had flipped: “They’re not coming to us. They’re going to the one upside down.”
https://x.com/AlwaysRaceDay/status/2114483202827923509
The audio does not show how NASCAR’s safety teams decided which car to reach first in a crash that collected 15 cars. NASCAR posted shortly after the crash that all drivers involved had exited their cars.
https://x.com/NASCAR/status/2114471447947022394
How the crash happened
The crash started on Lap 183, with five laps left, when Logano spun off Carson Hocevar‘s bumper in the tri-oval. Logano hit the outside wall and flipped onto his roof. Herbst’s Toyota hit the outside wall, shot back across the track and hit the inside wall nearly head-on. He climbed out with help from safety workers.
NASCAR is taking Herbst’s car to its Research and Development Center for further evaluation, as Pit This Time reported. Herbst finished 26th.
Earlier this season
Herbst missed the August race at Daytona International Speedway with a concussion from a crash at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
What’s next
The Cup Series races next at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia, on Sunday, November 1, at 2 p.m. ET on NBC. No change to Herbst’s status for that race had been announced as of Monday night.
Pit This Time wishes Riley Herbst a full and speedy recovery.
Leave a Reply