Search
Close this search box.

Partner

Sheldon Creeds Tames Darlington For First Win Of 2021, Claims $50K Bonus

Darlington, South Carolina – Sheldon Creed, driver of the No. 2 Silverado for GMS Racing, prepares for an interview with FOX Sports (PC : GMS)

Reigning NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Sheldon Creed will get the chance to defend his 2020 title after he claimed his first win of the season in Friday night’s LiftKits4Less.com 200 at Darlington.

The win marks the first time a Chevrolet has won in 2021 and ends the seven-race winning streak of Toyotas this season. It’s Creed’s first win since his championship-winning victory in Phoenix last year.

After starting from the pole, John Hunter Nemechek entered Darlington as a clear favorite to take his third win of 2021. He held a strong wheel in the early going in Friday’s race, finishing second in Stage 1 to former KBM driver Todd Gilliland. Stage 1 saw two cautions, with Kris Wright and Codie Rohrbaugh and a spin from Stewart Friesen and Carson Hocevar.

Heading into Stage 2, Nemechek would take command of the quick-moving stage, leading just north of 30 laps in the 45 lap stage for the Stage 2 victory. Nemechek’s stage win was in jeopardy with GMS Racing’s Chase Purdy and Reaume Brothers Racing’s Akinori Ogata tangling in turn 4 on lap 82.

Nemechek would hold off Corey Heim, and Hocevar for his first stage win of the evening.

Stage 3 is when the track known as the “Lady In Black” began to deal an ugly hand to a number of drivers. The first two stages saw only three cautions relating to on-track crashes.

Lap 112 saw the first multi-truck wreck of the stage, when Tanner Gray got loose coming off turn four, and then was bumped by NIECE Motorsports’ Ryan Truex. Gray had his truck saved until an onrushing Ogata piledrove into Gray, and a spinning Timmy Hill ended up being collected in the wreck. Both Gray and Ogata were forced to retire due to damage, while Hill was able to drive away from the scene.

The race restarted on lap 118 with KBM teammates of Nemechek and Heim starting side-by-side. Not even ten feet past the green flag and both KBM trucks got together in front of the field, causing a Talladega-caliber wreck at Darlington.

Numerous drivers were involved in the wreck including Austin Hill, Bayley Currey, Zane Smith, Grant Enfinger, and David Gilliand. According to the TobyChristie.com Incident Tracker, 21 drivers were involved in the front stretch pile-up.

After a 12 minute red flag, the race restarted on lap 131 with yet another caution occurring just moments later on lap 132 after a blown tire caused Parker Kligerman to get into Stewart Friesen and turn him. Kligerman’s night was done following the tire failure, while Friesen’s night would end after reaching his time limit for repairs under the NASCAR’s Damage Vehicle Policy

Following a spin by Danny Bohn on lap 142,  the field was set for a two-lap dash to the finish. After Rhodes got loose under Creed in turn one, Creed was able to surge ahead and claim the victory.

Rhodes placed second, while Hocevar, Matt Crafton, and Johnny Sauter would round out the top-five at Darlington.

share it
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest Post

Martin Truex Jr. Denny Hamlin post-race crash Richmond Raceway Toyota Owners 400 Martin Truex Jr. mad
Martin Truex Jr. Frustrated by Hamlin's Final Restart; Runs into Him After Race
Denny Hamlin twitter argument with Marcus Smith SMI 2024 X
Denny Hamlin, Marcus Smith Engage in Late-Night Fight on X
Timmy Hill yells at Stewart Friesen Martinsville 2024 video Long John Silver's 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
"You're Supposed to be Better than these F***ing Kids" Timmy Hill Unleashes on Stewart Friesen
Kyle Busch car chief ejected COTA inspection Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Richard Childress Racing JTG Daugherty Racing
Kyle Busch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Car Chiefs Ejected After Multiple Failed Inspection Attempts
Gray Gaulding arrested Domestic Violence 2024 Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Department
Gray Gaulding Arrested on Misdemeanor Crime of Domestic Violence Charge; Suspended by NASCAR
Hailie Deegan Martinsville finishes 18th destroyed car NASCAR Xfinity Series Cook Out 400
Hailie Deegan Salvages 18th-Place Finish Despite Destroyed Race Car

Join Our Newsletter

Ready to have NASCAR news hand-delivered to your email daily?

Related Article