Harrison Burton Stepping in for Riley Herbst in Saturday Night’s Cup Race at Daytona

By David Morgan, Associate Editor

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The No. 35 Toyota of 23XI Racing will have a new driver when the green flag drops Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway.

The team released a statement on Saturday afternoon that Riley Herbst, who had qualified the car in the fifth position, will step aside for the regular season finale on the 2.5-mile superspeedway, noting “lingering effects” a crash last weekend in New Hampshire.

“After a strong effort in qualifying yesterday, Riley Herbst woke up with lingering effects from last weekend’s incident and, along with the team, decided it was in his best interest to step out of the car for tonight’s race at Daytona International Speedway,” the team’s statement posted to social media read.

On Lap 225 of last weekend’s race on the one-mile New Hampshire oval, contact between Michael McDowell and Herbst sent Herbst spinning into the outside wall, making heavy contact before his car was also impacted by Connor Zilisch a short time later.

Herbst was checked and evaluated from the Infield Care Center after the incident.

Trouble for @rileyherbst!

The No. 35 Toyota spins after contact with @Mc_Driver. pic.twitter.com/TkPLl6JSTz

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 23, 2026

With Herbst on the sidelines and the team’s normal backup driver, Corey Heim, already entered in Saturday night’s race, Harrison Burton will climb behind the wheel of the 23XI Toyota to complete the four-car stable for the race.

Burton currently drives full-time in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series for Sam Hunt Racing, having scored three top-10 finishes this season and a season best finish of eighth on Friday night at Daytona.

The 25-year-old competed in the Cup Series full-time between 2022 and 2024 for Wood Brothers Racing, winning the 2024 summer Daytona race.