By most measures, it’s been a good year for Sheldon Creed. Through the first 21 races, he’s won two poles and finished in the top five 10 times. But he remains winless. When will he get that first win? Will it ever happen?
He’s now eclipsed Dale Jarrett and Daniel Hemric‘s record for second-place finishes prior to a win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Jarrett and Hemric each had 10, and with a runner-up finish last weekend (Aug. 17) at Michigan International Speedway, Creed is now up to 11.
Hours before the race at Michigan, it was announced that Creed and Sam Mayer would move over to Haas Factory team starting in 2025. So for the second consecutive season, Creed is about to have a change of scenery.
When he spent two winless seasons with Richard Childress Racing, nobody thought much of it. Sure, Austin Hill was winning races with RCR, but he must’ve just been getting the better equipment, or so fans thought.
Coming over to Joe Gibbs Racing for 2024, the expectation was that Creed would break out. A handful of wins was a safe bet. All those close calls at RCR? Those would be wins with the superior cars furnished by JGR.
After a second-place run to open the season at Daytona International Speedway, with the way the final lap unfolded, your humble author chose controversy. The first in-season edition of the Eyes on Xfinity column in 2024 was titled “Is Sheldon Creed a Choke Artist?“
A lot of people were upset about the column. I won’t sit here and tell you the column was perfect by any means. Despite some words I wouldn’t mind having back, the general premise of the column was that Creed has repeatedly seen defeat snatched from the jaws of victory. These repeated instances, which I went through in the column, painted the picture and teed up the question. How much of this should be pinned on Creed’s own actions behind the wheel and inside the helmet?
Numerous readers, understandably, expected the column to look increasingly foolish with time and age like warm milk. Since Daytona, Creed has added three more seconds, a third, three fourths, and two fifths. But the win has continued to elude him. That column has aged … better than expected.
Creed’s teammates at Joe Gibbs Racing have claimed seven wins through 21 races so far. Chandler Smith has two wins, part-time drivers Ryan Truex and Aric Almirola each have one. Toyota Cup drivers John Hunter Nemechek and Christopher Bell have the rest. Who would’ve…
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