NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Overview
Event: NextEra Energy 250 (Round 1 of 23), 100 Laps – 20/20/60; 250 Miles
Location: Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway (2.5-mile oval superspeedway)
Date/Broadcast: Feb. 14, 2020 at 7:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1, MRN and Sirius/XM NASCAR 90
What You Need to Know
- Riley Herbst will pilot the No. 51 ORCA Coolers/Mobil 1 Tundra at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway this weekend for the NextEra Energy 250. Herbst will be doing double duty, as he is competing full-time for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) in the NASCAR Xfinity Series this season.
- The young driver has not previously made a NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series start at Daytona, but has one Xfinity Series start for JGR in 2019, and two ARCA Menards Series starts, both resulting in top-10 finishes. Herbst, a Las Vegas-native, last climbed behind the wheel of a KBM Tundra at Talladega in 2019, earning a third-place finish in the No. 51 Tundra after battling for the lead with Johnny Sauter late in the race.
- In a total of seven Gander Trucks starts, Herbst has earned one top-five and three top-10 finishes, with an average starting position of 14.9 and an average finish of 13.4. The 20-year-old driver has 10 NASCAR Xfinity Series starts with four top-10 finishes.
- In 2019, the No. 51 team claimed six wins, three poles, 15 top-five and 17 top-10 finishes with seven different drivers en route to the 2019 Gander Trucks owner championship.
- The No. 51 team will be led by Danny Stockman in 2020. Stockman called the shots for Austin Dillon’s championship efforts in both the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series (2011) and the NASCAR Xfinity Series (2013) and has experience as a crew chief in all three national series, most recently serving as Dillon’s NASCAR Cup Series signal caller. In Dillon’s Gander Trucks championship season, the pair totaled two wins, five poles, 10 top-five and 16 top-10 finishes. The majority of Stockman’s experience atop the pit box has come in the Xfinity Series, where his drivers have recorded seven wins, 19 poles, 80 top-five and 148 top-10 finishes across 209 starts from 2012 to 2018. At Daytona, Stockman has one Xfinity Series win with Dillon, in 2015.
- Owner-driver Kyle Busch will be behind the wheel of the No. 51 Cessna Tundra for next week’s NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series event at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway as part of his five-race schedule for 2020. The other four races on Busch’s schedule this season are March 14 at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway, March 20 at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway, March 27 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth and May 30 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City.
- The world’s leading synthetic motor oil brand, Mobil 1 features anti-wear technology that provides performance beyond our conventional motor oils. This technology allows Mobil 1 to meet or exceed the toughest standards of car builders and to provide exceptional protection against engine wear, under normal or even some of the most extreme conditions. Mobil 1 flows quickly in extreme temperatures to protect critical engine parts and is designed to maximize engine performance and help extend engine life.
Riley Herbst, Driver Q&A
Talk about making your first start at Daytona in the Gander Truck Series.
“I have a little bit of experience in these Tundras at Talladega last year, but I’m getting ready to go down for Speedweeks, start the week off pretty good in the Tundra and hopefully go get a trophy, for sure.”
Does having Danny Stockman as your crew chief give you some extra confidence heading into Daytona?
“Yeah, absolutely. Danny Stockman is really smart and he’s got that truck looking good. We’re ready to get down to Daytona and hopefully have speed all weekend especially off the truck.”
How does running double duty this weekend affect you?
“I think it gives me more experience on the track, more experience in drafting packs and things of that nature, so I think it benefits both aspects of it.”
Riley Herbst Career Highlights
- Has recorded one top-five and three top-10 finishes, with an average finish of 14.9 in seven career Gander Truck Series starts. His best result of third came last year at Talladega Superspeedway, behind the wheel of the No. 51 Tundra.
- Has posted four top-10 finishes across 10 career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts and posted an Xfinity Series best finish of sixth in his series debut at Iowa Speedway in June of 2018. Across 48 career ARCA Racing Series starts has collected one win (Pocono Raceway, 2017), one pole, 310 laps led, 16 top-five and 31 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 8.9.
- Named the 2017 ARCA Racing Rookie of the Year after posting one win, one pole, 203 laps led, six top-five and 10 top-10 finishes.
Riley Herbst No. 51 Mobil 1 Tundra:
KBM-064: The No. 51 ORCA/Mobil 1 team will race KBM-064 for Friday’s NextEra Energy 250 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. This chassis is brand new.
KBM Notes of Interest
- Last season the No. 51 team claimed six wins, five with owner-driver Kyle Busch behind the wheel and one with veteran driver Greg Biffle, as well as 15 top-five and 17 top-10 finishes with an average finishing position of 6.5, en route to collecting the 2019 Gander Outdoors Truck Series owner championship.
- KBM drivers have collected one win, two poles, 81 laps led, four top-five and eight top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 17.0 across 25 starts at Daytona
- Owner-driver Kyle Busch picked up the organization’s only victory at Daytona in the season opener in 2014, narrowly besting fellow Toyota competitor, Timothy Peters.
- KBM holds the NGOTS records for most career wins (75) and most wins in a single season (14 in 2014). In addition to collecting a series-record seven Owner’s Championships, the organization has produced two championship-winning drivers; Erik Jones (2015) and Christopher Bell (2017).
