After four seasons, 137 starts, and 15 runner-up finishes filled with tons of heartbreak, Sheldon Creed is FINALLY a race-winner in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.
Creed, a native of Alpine, California, parked his No. 00 Road Ranger Chevrolet Camaro in Victory Lane on Saturday at EchoPark Speedway, putting an end to what has been a frustrating winless streak in NASCAR’s second-tier division.
The victory itself was quite serendipitous, as Creed, instead of being the subject of the heartbreak like he’s been so many times over the last four years, was this time the beneficiary of somebody else’s heartbreak.
It all came down to the final lap of Saturday’s Bennett Transportation & Logistics 250 at EchoPark Speedway, when Austin Hill and Ross Chastain were nose-to-tail for the racetrack, when an aggressive move down the backstretch changed the entire outcome completely.
Chastain, driving the No. 32 Chevrolet for Jordan Anderson Racing, was getting a massive push from Sheldon Creed down the backstretch when he ducked to the inside lane to try and take the spot, and instead made contact with race-leader Hill — sending the No. 21 Chevrolet sideways into Turn 3.
SHELDON CREED IS A WINNER IN THE NASCAR O'REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES! pic.twitter.com/dt5ReFaVEM
— NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts (@NASCAROReillyAP) February 22, 2026
After the smoke had settled (literally) from the last-lap contact, Creed got to the outside of both Chastain and Hill and drove his way to the start-finish line, where he took the checkered flag three tenths of a second ahead of runner-up Parker Retzlaff.
RELATED: NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Bennett 250 Race Results
“It never plays out how you draw it up. But, finally, a winner, and maybe, I don’t know if one win will kind of revive my career, but maybe if I win a few this year, it will,” Creed told The CW post-race. “And probably going to drink a ton of Coors Lights tonight.”
It’s been quite a long road to get to this point for Creed, who was a champion in both the ARCA Menards Series (MDM Motorsports) and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (GMS Racing) before coming to the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.
Having competed for Richard Childress Racing, then Joe Gibbs Racing, and now Haas Factory Team, the former Stadium Super Trucks champion has had lots of opportunities to get himself in a good position, which he’s done courtesy of good results, and now, a win.
“Incredible. Just yeah, been a loser the last few years, and just kept showing up. Not how you draw it up when you win a Truck championship, and win races and go to [O’Reilly] and go four years winless,” Creed added. “So, incredible. Thank all of my past teams, RCR, and Gibbs; they all gave me great opportunities. And now, here with Haas Factory Team, back with Chevrolet, and great engines.”
Parker Retzlaff, in just his second event driving the No. 99 Chevrolet Camaro for Viking Motorsports, earned a career-best-tying runner-up result at EchoPark Speedway, coming up one spot short of the victory. Retzlaff had a strong afternoon and ran inside the top-10 for much of the day.
Nick Sanchez, driving for AM Racing, finished third. Corey Day, despite causing a couple of on-track incidents, finished fourth, and Richard Childress Racing driver Jesse Love rounded out the top five. Ross Chastain, Sam Mayer, Rajah Caruth, Taylor Gray, and Brandon Jones completed the top-10.
Leaving EchoPark Speedway, Austin Hill holds a 22-point advantage in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series standings over Rajah Caruth. Sheldon Creed is third, with Jesse Love and Parker Retzlaff rounding out the top five.
The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series is (finally) finished with superspeedways for the time being, and next week, it will head to Austin, Texas, for the first road course of the season at Circuit of The Americas. Coverage of the event will be on Saturday, February 28 on The CW at 5:30 PM ET.
