Battery Failure Unravels Creed’s Late Rally In Nashville

Sheldon Creed (John K. Harrelson/NKP for Toyota Racing photo)

LEBANON, Tenn. – After driving into the top 10, Sheldon Creed saw a solid NASCAR Xfinity Series result slip away due to a late-race battery failure Saturday at Nashville Superspeedway.

Creed, who qualified a disappointing 14th and spent most of the Tennessee Lottery 250 mired in traffic, finally found some forward momentum following a caution midway through the final stage.

He was able to gain track position on pit lane and lined up sixth for the race’s final restart with 46 laps left. However, Creed faded back and reported “no voltage” in the closing laps.

Creed was finally forced to pit from 15th place with 16 to go, dropping him off the lead lap and out of contention. He ended up 33rd in the final running order, three laps off the pace.

The frustrating result marked Creed’s fourth finish of 32nd or worse this year, as well as the latest in a series of mechanical failures that has plagued the No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota GR Supra team through the first half of the season.

It also dropped him three spots in the regular season standings, from fifth to eighth place, though Creed remains a comfortable 66 points above the playoff cut line with nine races remaining until the postseason reset.

“It’s hard to know what to say right now,” lamented Creed. “To have five or six mechanical issues in the first half of the season is unbelievably frustrating, because we know this team is capable of winning races and in the races that we’ve finished, we’ve shown positive results. All we can do is keep fighting, and hopefully we can rebound in Chicago this weekend with a better finish.”

Creed and the Xfinity Series field will resume competition at the Chicago Street Circuit with the running of the second annual Loop 110 at the 2.2-mile temporary street circuit in downtown Chicago, Ill.

Broadcast coverage of the race is slated for Saturday, July 6 at 3:30 p.m. ET, live on NBC, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.