1 week ago23XI Racing driver and Cup Series rookie Riley Herbst will start 19th for this week's Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. This will be the second time this season that Herbst will start inside the top 20 in a Cup race. Herbst has no previous Cup races at Homestead, but in the Xfinity Series at the site, he has five top-10 finishes and never finished worse than 11th in six starts. After five races so far in the 2025 season, Herbst has four top-20 finishes with a positive Place Differential. In practice, Herbst ranked 17th in overall lap averages while ranking as high as 19th in 30 consecutive lap averages. Despite his solid equipment and consistency for the cheap DFS salary ($5,400) this season, Herbst is difficult to recommend outside of tournament lineups, mainly as his practice speeds suggest he will not move far past his starting position.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
2 weeks ago23XI Racing's Riley Herbst will start 34th after qualifying for this week's Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It will be his first time racing at the site in the Cup Series. In 11 previous Xfinity Series starts at Las Vegas, Herbst has one win and six top-10 finishes while scoring positive Place Differential seven times. Through four races so far this season, Herbst has three top-20 finishes with positive PD earned. In practice, Herbst ranked 27th in 10 consecutive lap averages and 25th in overall lap averages. Based on his enormous upside, Xfinity history, and equipment, Herbst can be a sneaky DFS value play, especially as one of the cheapest drivers to add to lineups this week.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
3 weeks agoAfter an improbable three straight 17th-place finishes to start the season, Riley Herbst qualified one spot worse than that at Phoenix, which was actually his best qualifying position on a non-drafting oval in his Cup Series career to date. However, don't expect him to extend his streak a fourth week as Herbst developed very lowly in the Xfinity Series, which likely suggests the same will hold true for him in Cup. The first three races on drafting ovals and a road course are the kind of quirky races where an unheralded underdog can place well just by avoiding crashes, but in a more run-of-the-mill race like at Phoenix, he's probably going to be much slower as he learns the ropes and will probably finish worse than he starts. Even though Herbst has a solid projected finish in theory, he's not a good DFS play.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
4 weeks agoRiley Herbst is making his NASCAR Cup Series debut on a road course in Sunday's race at Circuit of the Americas. Although he actually led Saturday's Xfinity Series race for a while, don't expect him to repeat that feat on Sunday, as it generally takes time for any new driver to learn the Next Gen chassis, and Herbst is proving to be no exception after qualifying 31st. Simply because of the speed of his car, his poor qualifying position, and the fact that his DraftKings salary of $5,400 is so cheap, there might be some DFS value here if you think he has similar speed to his teammates, but more likely his inexperience will result in a mediocre finish.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
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