Livescore
DARLINGTON, S.C. — Another NASCAR Xfinity Series race that was seemingly in Sheldon Creed’s grasp wriggled free again Saturday at Darlington Raceway. If there was some odd form of consolation for the 26-year-old driver, he at least didn’t add to his distinctive record of runner-up placements without a win.
“I’m glad I didn’t run second again,” Creed said. “At this point, I’ll run third before I run second.”
Creed led 30 of the 150 laps in Saturday’s Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200, falling short after a slightly slower stop in the final pit cycle dropped him from the lead to third place in the order. That’s where he finished in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, behind Cup Series regular and race winner Christopher Bell and runner-up Cole Custer, who nearly tangled with Bell in their heated contest for the lead with a lap and a half remaining.
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Creed’s 93rd career start in the Xfinity Series seemed to be headed for a breakthrough, especially after he methodically chased down Bell’s No. 20 JGR Supra to grab the lead with nine laps left in regulation. A late caution flag, however, tilted the race’s complexion after AJ Allmendinger crunched the outside retaining wall on Lap 143, one lap after contact with Custer.
That yellow flag set up overtime and a last round of pit service. Creed entered pit road with the lead, but left third after a slight lag on the right-rear tire change, landing him on the second row for the last restart
“I was optimistic at first, right?” said Creed, a two-time Darlington winner in Truck Series competition. “My pit crew had been really good all day, and I just figured we would come in first and leave first, and I needed to at least probably be on the front row for a green-white-checkered like that. … I don’t know. I’m obviously really bummed because today was our day, and I felt like I put in one of my best performances, and yeah, to have a caution like that ruin it, it sucks.”
Bright spots persisted for the No. 18 team, even with the heartache of Saturday’s Darlington finish. Creed added to his series-best mark with his 10th top-five finish of the year, and the No. 18 pit crew had registered two of the three fastest times on pit road before the fateful final stop.
“I think just we are going to hang our hats on how fast we were the whole race, that we got better throughout the day,” No. 18 crew chief Sam McAulay told NASCAR.com. “Stage 3, clearly the best car, and Sheldon did a great job, passed the 20 really well. I mean, I think the pit crew on average for the day is still like probably P1, P2. They’ve been great. That’s just part of it, when you get a late caution like that. But I mean, we just have to keep putting ourselves in the top five. … We keep doing that, keep bringing good cars, I know it’s coming soon, but it definitely stings to have a car pulling away and then finish third, but it’s part of racing.”
The collision between the two front-runners in Bell and Custer was almost the flashpoint that could have opened the door for Creed. Bell said post-race that he thought his car was about to nose into the inside wall after the two came together, but both he and Custer straightened it out to stay 1-2.
“It was just really tight racing,” said Custer, who leaves Darlington second in the series standings — 28 points behind Justin Allgaier, Saturday’s 10th-place finisher. “It is always fun to race with Christopher. We were both just trying to stay in the throttle off of Turn 2. I couldn‘t tell if he came down or I came up a little bit. It was a hard decision to make because he was coming down and I didn‘t know if I should lift or stay in it and let him wreck himself. I think if I had stayed in it, I would have wrecked myself. It was a great race by everyone on our team. To come from 21st to second is a huge accomplishment. I can‘t thank everyone enough, especially the pit crew. The pit crew did a great job.”
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