Rick Ware Racing announced Tuesday that the team has signed NASCAR Xfinity Series' Riley Herbst to drive for them in the Daytona 500. Herbst, 24, will make his Cup Series debut behind the wheel of the team's No. 15 Ford with sponsorship from SunnyD.
Herbst has competed full-time in the Xfinity Series since 2020 and will do so again in 2023 in his third season at Stewart-Haas Racing. The Las Vegas native had earned 17 top five and 54 top 10 finishes in 109 career starts with a best finish of second on two occasions.
"As a kid, you always dream of being able to race in the Daytona 500, and I'm able to accomplish that with Rick Ware Racing," Herbst said in a team statement. "It's such a big event and for it to be my first Cup start will be a crazy experience. I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do behind the wheel of the No. 15 SunnyD Ford Mustang... I'm hoping to lean on and learn from the other Ford drivers throughout the week as I get more comfortable in the Next Gen car and prepare for the Great American Race."
😮💨😮💨 ready to rip the @sunnydelight ford on the high banks! pic.twitter.com/vTlApC31m4
— Riley Herbst (@rileyherbst) January 31, 2023
Herbst will be the first driver to take the wheel of Rick Ware's No. 15 this season, which has featured a variety of drivers over the past year as a complement to the No. 51 driven full-time by Cody Ware.
The No. 15 finished eighth in last year's Daytona 500 with veteran David Ragan behind the wheel.
