Sheldon Creed runs side-by-side with Cole Custer in the United Rentals 300. (Photo: Cornnell Chu | The Podium Finish)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Old habits die hard, even after a change of scenery.
Making his debut in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Supra, Sheldon Creed rallied late to a second-place finish at the United Rentals 300 at Daytona International Speedway.
Creed tallied his eighth-career runner-up in 71 career Xfinity starts, as well as his second straight second place at “The World Center of Racing.”
“[I’ve] found some consistency which is nice,” Creed told Stephen Stumpf of Frontstretch. “Just need to keep working hard, keep running smart races.”
Creed’s fallout at Richard Childress Racing came to the forefront last year at Martinsville, where Austin Hill, Andy Petree and Childress all voiced their displeasure with Creed’s racing after both cars got eliminated from the Playoffs. In his debut for Joe Gibbs Racing, it was Hill that took the checkered flag, 0.591 seconds ahead of Creed.
Making his first start in a Toyota, Creed methodically worked his way up from a 14th starting spot. After scoring five points in the opening stage, won by Jesse Love in Creed’s old car, the Alpine, CA, native dodged an 11-car pileup in the second stage where he ended up third.
“We didn’t make a lot of noise tonight,” Creed said. “But when it counted, we could get up through there.”
The final stage saw a fierce battle break out following the final scheduled pit stop after three crashes led to a three-lap dash to the finish led by Jordan Anderson.
In the background was Creed, who was running ninth and waiting for his opportunity to make a run. The seas parted and Creed found himself right on Hill’s back bumper as they took the white flag with Ryan Sieg behind him.
However, no move would be made, as Sieg spun off of Sammy Smith’s bumper coming off turn two. With Hill and Creed out by themselves, the race was effectively over from that point. Creed backed off to hopefully slingshot around, but to no avail.
With eight runner-up finishes, Creed needs two more from matching Dale Jarrett and Daniel Hemric with 10 second-place finishes before their first career win.
“I can’t wait to get to like Vegas and Phoenix, these real race tracks,” Creed said. “This speedway racing is tough.”
