Did anyone else have Sheldon Creed 15th in NASCAR Xfinity Series points after 11 races? I didn’t think so.
Yet, that is where he and his No. 2 Richard Childress Racing team sit — 68 points behind 12th-place Daniel Hemric.
In September of last year, it was announced that Creed would graduate from the Camping World Truck Series to Xfinity with RCR. Before he stepped into the famous No. 2, he piloted the No. 78 for BJ McLeod Motorsports at the 2021 season finale race at Phoenix Raceway, where he finished 10th. Then he started the season off on a high note, capturing a sixth-place finish at Daytona International Speedway — a race teammate Austin Hill won.
But since then, it has been an overall rough rookie season for the 2020 Truck Series champion.
After starting the season in ninth in the overall points, the highest Creed has been since then is 11th. Since Circuit of the Americas on March 26, Creed has slipped back. In the five races since, he has only one finish in the top 20 — an eighth at Dover Motor Speedway. The accompanying finishes are a 22nd at Richmond Raceway, a 30th at Martinsville Speedway, 24th at Talladega Superspeedway and a 38th-place finish at Darlington Raceway. Worse for wear, Creed finished worst among the “Power 12” teams and drivers.
That makes the upcoming summer races very crucial to the playoff hopes for Creed and the No. 2 team. On the bright side, several of the circuits ahead are good tracks or types of tracks for Creed.
The next two races are this Saturday, May 21 at Texas Motor Speedway and the following week at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Two of Creed’s eight Truck Series victories came on mile-and-a-half tracks (Kentucky Speedway and Texas).
In Creed’s Truck championship season, the calendar included 11 mile-and-a-half tracks. He scored two wins and four top-two finishes. Earlier this season, he finished seventh at the only traditional mile-and-a-half track so far in 2022 — maybe a good omen to close the month of…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Frontstretch…