Sheldon Creed setting the tone on an expected rainy weekend in Portland. (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
PORTLAND, Oregon – Just as the eventful Friday morning practice session came to a close, Sheldon Creed topped the NASCAR Xfinity Series practice charts at Portland International Raceway.
Creed is among the very few competitors that’ll partake in the Pacific Office Automation 147 who had experience at the 1.967-mile road course. In 2019, he competed in the Stadium SUPER Trucks as part of INDYCAR’s Grand Prix of Portland weekend. Despite not having any ramps, Creed felt having experience helped him when the 55-minute session began.
“The laps are very important. It was nice to have those laps in SST to know where I was going and not having to learn the track,” said Creed after practice. “Not that it’s a huge advantage, but it takes the first 20 minutes of practice out of the picture for me. The rest are learning the track, where to go and breaking zones are, but I knew where I was going. It just helps me get up to speed faster.”
Behind Creed were Ty Gibbs, Myatt Snider, AJ Allmendinger and Brett Moffitt. The man who went third quickest, enters Portland 18th in points and while he doesn’t see it as a turnaround weekend in the works, it’s important to have a strong result. In the most recent NXS road course race at Circuit of the Americas, Snider finished sixth.
Snider is also no stranger with road course experience, competing in the 2019 Whelen Euro Series campaign. He explained during that year, he only ran in the rain once as Saturday’s 75-lap event is expected to be a downpour. Since then, he’s gained more experience on different conditions and is excited about his chances in the No. 31 TreeTop Chevrolet.
Snider navigating the infamous chicane. (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
“Going into Europe, what that taught me was the way those guys’ philosophy of going about how they race. Of course, European racing is a lot different with etiquettes. Being an American driver, I’m like ‘I want to use the bumper.’ That was a change I had to make but that knowledge definitely applies here,” Snider explained.
“We raced at Circuit Zolder and it was pretty wet. The following year, I got to run an Xfinity race (Charlotte ROVAL) in just absolutely torrential downpour, as well as Road America in on-and-off rainy conditions. I feel like I’m fairly experienced as far as rain racing goes, but I really enjoy it.
“I have nothing but excitement going for tomorrow and I know what changes we have to make to improve. This is definitely a race we can contend and compete.”
During the session, there were two red flags involving Noah Gragson and Joe Graf, Jr.
For Gragson, his No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro struggled with grip on a very drenched front stretch. It resulted him losing control and slamming the inside wall. With the grass being soggy, it caused Gragson’s front nose digging into the area, lifting his car up in the air.
Gragson was able to bring his car back into the garage in reverse, but the JR Motorsports machine was damaged goods. He’ll go into a backup car with the same engine he had during the incident.
Front damage from Gragson during morning practice. (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
On the other, Graf’s hood popped off and dangled on the driver’s side as he brought it back into the pits. The SS-GreenLight Racing crew replaced the damaged hood and will not have to pull out a new Ford Mustang.
Several other drivers had spins around the circuit. Among those were the rest of the JR Motorsports racers (Josh Berry, Justin Allgaier and Sam Mayer), all losing control in Turns 3-6 with the trio continuing their sessions. Two more lost it in the always chaotic Shelton Chicane, a hot spot for incidents. The first was Oregon’s Darren Dilley and the other was Anthony Alfredo. The duo had separate spins in Turn 1, having to wait until the rest of the cars on track got around their stationary cars.
With qualifying not commencing until 5:05 p.m. local time, it’s apparent that qualifying will be important. More so when the odds of raining being 50/50. Creed would like it to be a dry qualifying session before diving into a wet Saturday. Gibbs on the other hand said he’s aware of the chicane’s reputation.
Since INDYCAR returned to Portland in 2018, each race (excluding 2020 as it was cancelled due to the pandemic) has had “Lap 1, Turn 1” drama that’s eliminated many drivers.
Gibbs will be looking for his third Xfinity Series road course win Saturday. (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
“Turn 1 is going to be a big deal,” said Gibbs. “You want to be in the right lane at the exit off (turn) 2 there and going through (turns) 3-4. I think the right lane is going to be good. But if somebody makes a mistake in the right lane, it’ll push the left lane out wide. If the left lane goes to the inside of Turn 1 and 2, off the exit, you’re going to get pushed off too. Hopefully, nobody torpedoes’ anybody up in the field in Turn 1, so we don’t have to worry about that.”
The fight for the pole that’ll earn one man bragging rights going into the inaugural race commences at 8:05 p.m. ET on FS1. Race coverage begins Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
