Riley Herbst ‘sore’ but set to compete at Martinsville after Talladega crash

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Riley Herbst plans to run the full distance of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway despite an injury to his left wrist suffered in a crash last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, 23XI Racing confirmed on Saturday. Herbst qualified 27th in the No. 35 Toyota for Sunday’s Xfinity 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). MORE: Martinsville lineup | At-track photos: Martinsville Herbst's left wrist and forearm remain wrapped after being involved in a late wreck in the YellaWood 500. On Lap 183, Joey Logano’s No. 22 Team Penske Ford broke loose and ignited a multicar wreck, during which Herbst hit the outside hard and ricocheted into the inside SAFER barrier, ending his day with a 26th-place finish. Herbst exited the car gingerly with assistance from the AMR Safety Team and was released from the infield care center. At Martinsville, Herbst said he remains sore from head to toe and that his body is still stiff, but he is intent on competing in the penultimate race of the 2026 season. Team co-owner Denny Hamlin noted, however, that Harrison Burton is on standby if needed. "I think that Riley's gonna attempt to run," Hamlin said Saturday morning. "I'll let him talk about the medical side of things, but it's, really, I think it's a pain-tolerance thing for him and I suspect he'll try to get it done this weekend." Herbst confirmed he tore a ligament in his left forearm but managed to complete 113 laps in Saturday's practice session in addition to his two qualifying laps. "I got lucky in that we tore part of the ligament that doesn't need surgery," Herbst told NASCAR.com and FOX Sports Saturday. "If I tore it on the other side of the ligament, it would have been done for 12 weeks, and we would have needed surgery. So, got lucky in that sense. Well, I got lucky in all the sense of it to walk away from that. So, yeah. Now it's just about mitigating pain for nine weeks. ... "It's all going to be about pain mitigation. Talked to a bunch of hand surgeons across the country, and they all had the same conclusion." Herbst admitted the last week was "scary," particularly as he reflected on the incident itself. "I don't know if race car drivers are supposed to say scary, but usually wrecks, they happen within a blink of an eye, a snap of a finger, and that's how that first hit was," Herbst said. "I didn't even know it happened by the time it happened. But the second one, I had I think I calculated two-and-a-half seconds to look at the wall and stare at it. So yeah, that's the worst part of the whole ordeal. "First hit, obviously, I don't want to hit the wall at 160 [mph], so I hit the brake pedal and went to the floor and tried to downshift to slow it that way, and I was willing to kind of hurt my motor to try to take some of the impact. But the transaxle and drivetrain was already out of it after that hit, so I couldn't downshift it either, and so I was kind of just along for the ride." The No. 35 Toyota that Herbst raced at Talladega was brought back to the NASCAR Research and Development Center in Concord, North Carolina, for further evaluation following the incident. Herbst said: "Visually, it's rough inside the cockpit, but I think everything did its job." The 27-year-old Las Vegas native stepped aside for the August race at Daytona International Speedway after dealing with lingering effects from a crash the week prior at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Herbst confirmed the next week that he had suffered a concussion. Burton drove the No. 35 Toyota at Daytona to a 12th-place finish. Herbst sits 30th in the Cup standings in 33 starts with a career-high three top-10 finishes. With Corey Heim taking over 23XI Racing's third full-time entry in 2027, Herbst is moving to Legacy Motor Club next season, where he will drive the No. 84 Toyota in 2027. Contributing: Staff report