Richard Childress Racing (RCR) will not be represented in the Final Four of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs this season, after an on-track slugfest broke out between teammates Austin Hill and Sheldon Creed late in the Dead On Tools 250.
With Hill and Creed holding the front row in NASCAR Overtime, things looked pretty well in control for Richard Childress Racing to have at least one driver advance to the Final Four, and if things went correctly, maybe even both.
Instead, things went about as badly as they possibly could have, with neither driver advancing to Phoenix with a shot at the championship, reducing the battle for the victory to a cage match between the teammates, with team owner Richard Childress watching on.
There was a split-second, on the final lap, where Creed had taken the lead away from Hill and both Richard Childres Racing drivers were poised to advance to the Final Four. Then, before you could even blink, the No. 21 was destroyed on the front stretch, and Justin Allgaier was celebrating down in turn one.
Creed came home in the runner-up position, the sixth of his NASCAR Xfinity Series career, and was just 0.032 seconds behind the eventual race-winner in Justin Allgaier, his second loss in a photo finish this season — ironically enough, both to Allgaier.
On the other hand, Hill finished 21st, after ramming into the back of the No. 2 Chevrolet in the final set of corners and busting the radiator on his Chevrolet, causing pretty much the entire field behind them to crash into a pile on the fronstretch.
Sheldon Creed, interviewed by NBC Sports after the conclusion of Saturday’s Dead On Tools 250 at Martinsville Speedway, felt as though he fairly raced Hill, rather than just blatantly wrecking him and taking the lead and the win.
“I don’t like racing that way, and that seems to be the way that this race always plays out. I beat him on the restart and gave him plenty of room, he just throttles up into my door there. I had my opportunity to push him up off the bottom. I got in the oil here and the top rolled pretty decent, and then I did it again in [turn] one,” said Creed. “Thought we had it coming to the checkered but, yeah, I don’t know. Not proud of racing like that, but a shot at the championship four.”
“I didn’t blast him, he’s still with me, I drug [the brake] right here to keep him next to me, and we raced pretty hard here,” Creed continued while watching the replay. “It feels like I played pretty fair for the situation, and he’s going to be mad, but it’s for a championship four spot, and wanted to fight for my guys all the way to the end.”
Disappointed with not advancing to the Final Four, Creed continued to give his side of the story on what happened, stating that if he wanted to guarantee his advancement to the Final Four, he would have just emulated what Ty Gibbs did last season at Martinsville.
Austin Hill, who arguably got the more disappointing end of the deal, being knocked out of the Playoffs after a strong run on Saturday, and a really strong season, including a regular-season title, wasn’t as gracious as Creed, though.
“I spin the tires a little bit and I overdrive my entry into one, because I know [Nemechek] went to go low and I didn’t know for sure if he was on the inside, my spotter said he had a run and then he didn’t, so it wasn’t cool for me to do what I did in [turn] one,” Hill conceded post-race. “But, I still kind of stayed off of him, and then he did not give me a chance getting into [turn] three, and then he didn’t give me a chance getting into one and shoved me up the racetrack.”
“I know he’s in a must-win situation, but still, just uncalled for, for that to happen and then neither of the RCR guys to make it to the Final Four, pretty excited for him to go to his next adventure at Gibbs, and I don’t have to put up with him no more.”
Next season, after Creed leaves for what Hill says is an opportunity with Joe Gibbs Racing, the Georgia native will be teammates with NASCAR Xfinity Series rookie Jesse Love, who will drive the No. 2 Chevrolet Camaro in 2024.
In his post-race interview with NBC Sports, Hill says he hopes that Love will at least race him cleaner, and with more respect, a clear shot at his current teammate, who has yet to record a win with Richard Childress Racing in two seasons.
