Herbst's family owns the Terrible Herbst company, a privately held chain of gas stations and convenience stores operating in Las Vegas and Southern Utah. Off-road racing runs throughout the family: his father Troy, grandfather Jerry, and uncles Ed and Tim all compete in events such as the Baja 500 and Baja 1000, and the four were inducted into the Southern Nevada Sports Hall of Fame in 2014. Herbst himself competed in off-road events alongside family members, winning the Trophy Truck Spec class at the 2023 Baja 1000 alongside his father Troy and Jordan Dean.
He began karting at age five and progressed through legends cars, Speed Trucks, and Super Late Models. In 2015, he raced weekly at Irwindale Speedway in the Super Late Model class and won the track's Speed Trucks championship.
Herbst drove full-time in the ARCA Racing Series for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2017, piloting the No. 18 Toyota. He won one race at Pocono, posted five top-fives and ten top-tens, finished seventh in the standings, and claimed the series Rookie of the Year award.
Herbst was named to NASCAR's Next class in May 2018 and made his Xfinity Series debut with Joe Gibbs Racing at Iowa Speedway in June of that year. He assumed full-time duties in the No. 18 JGR entry for 2020, qualifying for the playoffs and finishing twelfth in points with four top-fives and seventeen top-tens. Following JGR's decision to sign Daniel Hemric to the No. 18 for 2021, Herbst moved to Stewart-Haas Racing's No. 98 Ford.
At SHR, Herbst steadily improved his numbers. His 2022 campaign was his strongest at that point, featuring a career-high eight top-fives and twenty top-tens. The 2023 season brought his first career Xfinity win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the culmination of a strong run that included five consecutive top-five finishes to close the year. In 2024, Herbst added another win at Indianapolis and delivered Stewart-Haas Racing its final race victory at Phoenix before the team shut down operations at the end of that season. He finished seventh in the 2024 Xfinity standings.
Herbst made his Truck Series debut in 2018 for Kyle Busch Motorsports, making starts at Gateway and Las Vegas. He returned to the series in subsequent years for limited appearances, including runs at Daytona and Kansas in 2022 for David Gilliland Racing.
Herbst made his Cup Series debut in the 2023 Daytona 500 for Rick Ware Racing, finishing tenth in the No. 15 Ford despite involvement in a late-race crash. The result made him one of five drivers in NASCAR history to score a top-ten finish in their first Cup, Xfinity, and Truck Series starts.
He made additional Cup starts for Rick Ware and Front Row Motorsports through 2023 and 2024 on a part-time basis. On November 20, 2024, 23XI Racing announced Herbst would drive the No. 35 Toyota full-time for 2025 with Monster Energy as a primary sponsor. The 2025 season proved difficult: he failed to score a top-ten finish all year and finished 35th in the final standings.
Herbst's first Xfinity win at Las Vegas in 2023 was particularly meaningful given his family's strong ties to that market through the Terrible Herbst business. His performance in the 2024 Xfinity playoffs and his final-race victory for Stewart-Haas at Phoenix brought a fitting close to his tenure at a team he had represented through its last season of competition.