Sheldon Creed Scores Elusive First Victory at Atlanta

Sheldon Creed celebrating in Victory Lane after scoring his first career NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series victory. (Photo: Phil Cavali | The Podium Finish)

HAMPTON, Ga. — It had been a long time coming for Sheldon Creed, who at long last scored his first career NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series win in the Bennett Transportation & Logistics 250 at EchoPark Speedway.

After 15 runner-up finishes, Creed finally reached Victory Lane in the series in his 138th race. The victory was also the first NASCAR win for Creed since the 2021 Craftsman Truck Series season.

“Incredible. I’ve been a loser the last few years and just kept showing up,” said Creed. “Not how you draw it up when you win a truck championship, win races, go to Xfinity (O’Reilly Series) and go four years winless. So, incredible.”

For Creed, his winless streak had been plagued by moments not falling his way, but the last lap played out perfectly for him to steal the win.

On the back straightaway, Austin Hill got out to a big lead over the rest of the pack, until Ross Chastain received a huge push from Creed heading into Turn 3. Feeling the run, Chastain dove down to the bottom lane to attempt to take the lead, which Hill tried to block, but resulted in contact and the No. 21 getting turned onto the apron.

Sheldon Creed (No. 00) scored his first career victory in his 138th start at EchoPark Speedway. (Photo: Phil Cavali | The Podium Finish)

This killed Chastain’s momentum, opening the door for Creed to take the lead away and cruise to the start/finish line.

“Finally, a winner,” he said. “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.”

Following the contact with Hill, Chastain was relegated to a sixth-place finish driving the No. 32 car for Jordan Anderson Racing. When asked about the incident, he took full responsibility for the run-in.

“No excuse, I turned him, for sure,” said Chastain. “I hate that I did that to another Chevy, but I’m glad Sheldon (Creed) was there to pick it up. I don’t want to spin these guys. I’m not trying to crash coming to the checkered. But to get the run down the back, I did not execute it very well, that’s for sure.”

Hill felt the same way about the situation, but was stuck between blaming Chastain and chalking it up to “racing for the win” when looking back at the final lap.

“I might have got a little too far out,” he said. “End of the race, you have to throw the block and the (No.) 32 (Chastain) drove through me. That’s Ross for you.”

Ross Chastain (No. 32) and Austin Hill (No. 21) vying for the lead at EchoPark Speedway. (Photo: Phil Cavali | The Podium Finish)

But, when asked about reaching out and talking about the conversation, Hill did not think one was necessary.

“No. I mean, we’re both going for the win,” he said.

It was a tough race for JR Motorsports, which had three of its four cars DNF’d. Both Carson Kvapil and Justin Allgaier were taken out by Corey Day after the No. 17 went up the track, putting the duo into the wall, and Sammy Smith finished 30th after a tire failure triggered a multi-car incident.

Rajah Caruth was the banner driver for JR Motorsports, scoring an eighth-place finish to go along with the Stage 2 victory, catapulting him into second in driver points after two races.

Parker Retzlaff matched a career-high with a runner-up finish, Nick Sanchez finished in third for AM Racing, Day rebounded for a fourth-place result and Jesse Love rounded out the top five.

Chastain, Sam Mayer, Caurth, Taylor Gray and Brandon Jones finished inside the top 10.

Stage 1 Top 10 Results

1. Jesse Love
2. Rajah Caruth
3. Parker Retzlaff
4. Taylor Gray
5. Justin Allgaier
6. Sheldon Creed
7. Carson Kvapil
8. Nick Sanchez
9. Jeremy Clements
10. Ross Chastain

Stage 2 Top 10 Results

1. Rajah Caruth
2. Justin Allgaier
3. Carson Kvapil
4. Corey Day
5. Brandon Jones
6. Sammy Smith
7. Austin Hill
8. Parker Retzlaff
9. Sheldon Creed
10. Jesse Love

Bennett Transportation & Logistics 250 at EchoPark Speedway Finishing Results