No driver has worse luck than Sheldon Creed this season.
The 26-year-old Joe Gibbs Racing driver has driven his guts out this year. Unfortunately, he has had nothing to show for it in the wins category. Shockingly, after 93 NASCAR Xfinity Series starts, Creed has 11 runner-up finishes. Three of those second-place finishes have come from this season alone. Add in 10 top-5 finishes and you have stats that just about any driver would dream of. But for the driver of the No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Toyota, first place is what he needs.
“I took a chance on myself and we brought all the money we could,” Creed said on the NBC broadcast post-race, “I’m literally not even making a dollar this year so it just hurts when they get away like that.”
The Alpine, California driver led 30 laps, the second most laps led in the Sports Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200. He also managed to capture the win in Stage 2 and a fifth-place finish in the first stage. The only competition Creed had on the track was his teammate Christopher Bell, who led 108 of the 150 laps. As the teammates battled it out with the laps winding down, it was clear it was going to be a JGR win. But who would take it?
With less than 10 to go, Creed was able to pass the No. 20 Sports Clips Toyota going into turn 4. Finally, a win was in sight for the driver who was hoping for his first win. Unfortunately, the light at the end of the tunnel went dark when the caution came out of AJ Allmendinger slammed into the wall with five laps to go.
A big hit for AJ Allmendinger brings out the #XfinitySeries caution and we'll head to OVERTIME on USA Network. pic.twitter.com/UxPoaY1ZIw
— Xfinity Racing (@XfinityRacing) August 31, 2024
When the cars came to pit road, The No. 18 crew got their car back on track in third. When it came time to choose a lane, Creed chose to restart on the top line, which put him in fourth position. Then, when the green flag was thrown, there just wasn’t enough time to make up the positions he lost.
“I lost one the same way a few years ago here. Just this has always been a really good place for me. I’ve always loved racing here,” Creed shared. “Just, man, I don’t know what to do to be any better than that. I felt like I put in one of my best performances today. I love my pit crew, and they do a great job for us. I can’t blame that on them, we just got beat on pit road today so bummer.”
At the end of the day, his Toyota teammate is the one that comes home with the Trophy.
“I want him to win, I think he deserves to win but I want him to earn it,” Bell explained after the race. “I say that with all due respect because he did earn it today and unfortunately the yellow flag came out and he didn’t get the win. But, another race where Sheldon did a great job and did everything right, unfortunately, didn’t get the checkered flag.”
With three races to go in the regular season, Creed still has a chance to win his way into the playoffs. Though he doesn’t need the win at this moment to lock himself into the championship fight as he sits +109 above the cutoff line, a win would be a welcome change.
Up next on the schedule, the JGR driver will head to a track where he recorded a top-five finish in the spring. With the reconfiguration, Atlanta Motor Speedway is a treacherous track where anything can happen. For Creed, he is hoping that something is a win.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series will return to the peach state on Saturday, September 7 at 3:00 p.m. ET. The race will air on the USA Network.
