Sheldon Creed leads former teammate Austin Hill at Dover Motor Speedway. (Photo: Daniel Rankin | The Podium Finish)
DOVER, Del. — Once again, Sheldon Creed found himself with a chance at a NASCAR Xfinity Series win but came home empty-handed.
The third-year driver was up front all day during the BetRivers 200 at Dover Motor Speedway, before a flood of late cautions found him battling for the lead with under 20 laps to go.
Creed engaged in a fierce battle with former Richard Childress Racing teammate Austin Hill. Hill won the battle, but neither won the war.
Creed wound up finishing fourth for his fourth top-five finish in his first 10 starts for Joe Gibbs Racing.
“[Hill] and I were racing really hard there, and just couldn’t quite get rid of him,” Creed said. “Every time, I would get clear, he would just pack air and get me loose. Just good racing for the lead honestly.”
The No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota started the weekend strong with a fifth-place starting spot, and Creed took full advantage of it.
While not threatening for the lead, he took home fourth and fifth-place finishes in the opening two stages and having an average running position of fifth-place for the race.
The No. 18 pit crew goes to work at Dover Motor Speedway. (Photo: Daniel Rankin | The Podium Finish)
The race took a turn as rain befell the Monster Mile on lap 160, with Cole Custer leading and Creed running in the top-10.
The caution came right at the end of a fuel run, as some drivers ran out following the red flag.
After this, the dominant car of Custer was out of contention, with drivers like Justin Allgaier, Hill and Creed taking their turns up front. For Creed, his three laps led nearly doubled his season lap-led total.
After an incident involving Sam Mayer and Taylor Gray, Creed made his move for the lead on Hill.
The former teammates went to battle on a short run before Hill was overtaken for the lead by Carson Kvapil.
The race ended on a green-white-checkered finish, with Creed in row two ready to pounce if Kvapil and Ryan Truex got together.
It didn’t happen, however, as Creed’s teammate got clear in turns 3-4 for his second straight Dover win.
Creed ended up fourth, another race where he can think about what could have been.
“[It was] chaotic there,” Creed said. “We got a caution for rain with 30 or 40 left. We decided to pit and then people were diving off because they were running out of fuel, and that just helped us. I appreciate everyone at Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing.”
After a week off, the NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Darlington Raceway.
If there’s one race that could present a breakthrough opportunity for Creed, the Lady in Black could be it. Creed has two NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series wins at Darlington, and ran second to Noah Gragson as a NASCAR Xfinity Series rookie.
