Creed Nets Another Top Five In Xfinity Playoff Opener

Sheldon Creed (18) races ahead of Brandon Jones late in Saturday's Kansas Lottery 300. (Matthew Thacker/NKP for Toyota Racing photo)

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Sheldon Creed continued his remarkably consistent season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with a fifth-place finish in Saturday’s playoff opener at Kansas Speedway.

Despite qualifying a disappointing 15th for the Kansas Lottery 300, Creed brought the No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota GR Supra forward quickly to score points in both 45-lap stages.

He crossed sixth and seventh, respectively, in the two segments to earn nine total points toward his championship total. From there, Creed was fourth at halfway and battled inside the top 10 the rest of the way.

Though he ran as high as second at one point during the final green-flag pit sequence, Creed didn’t have enough on the 49-lap stint that ended the race to battle with the likes of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, Chandler Smith and eventual winner Aric Almirola, or defending series champion Cole Custer.

What Creed was able to do, however, was battle past JR Motorsports’ Brandon Jones late for his series-leading 14th top-five finish of the year and his seventh such result in his last nine races.

It allowed Creed to march from ninth in the standings coming into the day to fifth, 10 points clear of the provisional cut line with two races remaining in the Round of 12.

“Man, we just fought hard all day long and worked on our balance all day to get it better and better,” Creed explained afterward. “Certainly, I thought we got a lot better, but just lacked on the short runs. We’d kind of fall [off] for a bit, and then after about 25 laps I could go pretty hard.

“I pancaked the fence there with 30 to go or so, so we had to push through that, but I’m happy to get another top five for our team to keep our playoffs going strong early.”

Creed boasts the third highest average finish – 11.8 – among Xfinity Series regulars through 27 races.

The Alpine, Calif., native celebrates his 27th birthday Monday and believes his team is “right where we need to be” in terms of making a deep run through the postseason.

“We’ve been arguably the most consistent team all summer, even though we haven’t won a race, and if you keep putting yourself in contention … eventually it’s going to tip your way, right?” Creed noted. “We’ll just keep plugging away at it, go on to Talladega, and hope to avoid the chaos there.”

The NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs continue Saturday, Oct. 5 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway with the United Rentals 250, where Jesse Love triumphed in April for his first career victory.

Broadcast coverage of the second race in the Round of 12 is slated for 4 p.m. ET, live on The CW, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.