Is Sheldon Creed a Choke Artist?

Another Xfinity Series race at Daytona International Speedway, another win for Austin Hill.

The dominance of ‘Big Country’ should be acknowledged, but it’s the driver who finished second that has my wheels turning.

Sheldon Creed has racked up 12 top fives in his winless Xfinity career. While it may seem like he’s always finishing behind Hill, Daytona was the first time he’s finished in the top five and behind Hill. This was Creed’s third consecutive second-place finish, a streak that started last October in that infamous race at Martinsville Speedway.

Creed is a champion of the ARCA Menards Series and the Craftsman Trucks Series. Now driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, his arrow is still pointed up, but he’s got a Harambe-sized gorilla on his back. A pattern has emerged where one could ask the question: is Creed a choke artist?

The end of Monday Night’s race was bizarre. As Ryan Sieg spun in turn 2, Hill and Creed were the only drivers unimpeded by the wreck. Entering the backstretch, Creed was within a car length of Hill, who had cosmetic damage that likely had an impact on his top speed, especially without the speed of the draft.

Curiously, the gap between the two drivers widened significantly. The Fox TV crew did a great job putting up the telemetry and you saw Hill holding steady at 183 m.p.h. while Creed slowed down to 176.

With no caution, Hill’s damage, and the advantage of the draft on Creed’s side; Hill should’ve been a sitting duck. Instead, Creed let off the gas pedal and threw his chances away. Hill went on to win under green by over a half second, unheard of at Daytona. After the race, Creed provided two reasons for slowing.

In summary, he thought the caution was going to come out for Sieg’s spin and he wanted to back up to the field so he could get a push. The field was too far behind to be of any help after the wreck, and by the time he realized it, Hill was long gone.

What race car driver slows down at Daytona on the last lap with the lead in sight because they think there might be a caution? Hill sure didn’t. This was mind boggling. When you look at Creed’s Xfinity career, you will see other examples where he let wins get away.

Let’s take a look back at some of the near-misses for the 26-year-old from Alpine, Calif.

It started at Darlington Raceway in 2022, where Creed overachieved. He came into the race 13th…