NASCAR on Riley Herbst Crash Response: ‘We Took Some Heat on That One and Rightly So’

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NASCAR said it “took some heat” for its Riley Herbst crash response, the time it took a safety truck to reach him after his violent hit at Talladega Superspeedway, “and rightly so,” and said its response is something it needs to improve.

Mike Forde, NASCAR’s vice president of racing communications, addressed the response on this week’s episode of NASCAR’s Hauler Talk podcast.

Forde: ‘One where we could get better’

“I think that’s one instance where, when we have the debrief, Elton Sawyer always talks about what we did well, what we didn’t do so well, where we can get better,” Forde said. “I think that is one where we could get better.”

He said NASCAR managing director of track services Chase Brashears summed it up in the debrief: “We took some heat on that one and rightly so.”

What NASCAR says happened

Forde said the response was not as slow as it looked. Safety crews went first to Joey Logano‘s car, which was on its roof, and there was no chase truck near Herbst’s No. 35 Toyota.

“So I think it probably wasn’t maybe as long as some folks think. We didn’t have a chase truck there. They couldn’t see it, but we did have an AMR safety team member run from the 22 to the 35,” Forde said. “So he was checked on somewhat quickly. And then we were able to get the chase truck there soon after.”

“We want to get there faster than that, though. And we will continue to work on doing that.”

Why it drew criticism

Herbst hit the outside wall in the 15-car crash on Lap 183, then shot back across the track and hit the inside wall nearly head-on. Radio audio from his 23XI Racing team, posted on X after the race, showed crew members pleading for an answer from Herbst and complaining that safety crews were going to Logano’s car first, as Pit This Time reported.

https://x.com/STaranto92/status/2114531725820772601

Herbst’s condition

Herbst was checked at the infield care center and released, and left the track with his left wrist and forearm wrapped. 23XI co-owner Denny Hamlin said on his Actions Detrimental podcast that Herbst has “some bumps and bruises” and that “his wrist is not great,” and that he would get checked out this week. NASCAR took Herbst’s car to its Research and Development Center for evaluation.

The Cup Series races next at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia, on Sunday, November 1, at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.

Pit This Time wishes Riley Herbst a full and speedy recovery.