DARLINGTON, S.C. – Sheldon Creed climbed out of his car and shook hands with the man that had just thwarted his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory after the series’ race at Darlington Raceway on Saturday (Sept. 3).
The offender, Kyle Larson, had also lost his opportunity at victory. The two had collided on the final lap after Larson broke loose underneath Creed’s Chevrolet while attempting to pass him for the lead. The move resulted in Creed losing what was the closest he has been at winning a Xfinity race. What’s more, it was a loss at what could’ve been his playoff berth, as the Richard Childress Racing driver is still on the outside of the top 12 looking in with only two races left in the regular season.
However, rather than throw fists, pieces of racing equipment or insults involving slanderous words that should not be repeated at each other, the two smiled and laughed.
They had fun.
“We were kind of laughing about it,” Creed said after finishing second. “I have a lot of respect for Kyle [Larson]. I knew he wasn’t going to wreck me for the win, but we were going to race really hard for it.”
Larson felt mutual respect for his Xfinity counterpart.
“I’ve had a lot of respect for Sheldon [Creed],” Larson said after finishing fifth. “He’s a really hard racer and it was cool to battle him for the win there. He was racing hard for his first win. I was racing hard to get Rick [Hendrick] his first win with the No. 17.”
Creed, who took the lead in the final stage and had led 47 laps in the segment, had the top spot on the final restart with only 14 laps to go. Behind him was stage one winner Noah Gragson. The No. 2 was able to split away slightly from the No. 9 with only a few green-flag laps. As the dusk grew darker, Creed’s car had come to life, and was almost the fastest car on the track.
Almost.
Larson, who had restarted eighth, led a heroic charge to the front and was third after only five laps. The reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion recached the dueling Creed and Gragson with less than 10 laps to go and the battle became between three.
“I could tell Sheldon [Creed] was really loose out in front of me,” said Larson about the closing laps. “I could run up in [turns] 1 and 2 really well, and that’s where I would make up my time. I felt like that’s where I was going to be able to pass. I…
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