Creed Sets NASCAR Record With 13th Xfinity Runner Up

Sheldon Creed in action Friday night at Bristol Motor Speedway. (Danny Hansen/NKP for Toyota Racing photo)

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Sheldon Creed is no longer focused on his place in the history books after yet another runner-up finish in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Friday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Creed’s No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota GR Supra came home second in the Food City 300 to winner and regular season champion Cole Custer, who enters the playoffs hoping to defend his series title from a year ago.

But Creed, a native of Alpine, Calif., seemingly will have plenty to say about that.

The 26-year-old charged from 14th on the grid to third in the first 85 laps at The Last Great Colosseum, then held solid track position the rest of the way. He earned 15 stage points Friday night and led 28 laps in the middle third of the race, looking like a contender to finally notch his first career victory.

Creed surged past Custer on the bottom lane of the .533-mile concrete high banks on lap 181, just after the restart from the second stage break, when Custer got loose exiting turn two and broke momentum.

Leading through a lap-199 caution for Justin Allgaier’s spin in turn two, Creed later lost control of the race on lap 209, when he got squirrelly in nearly the exact same spot as Custer and allowed Custer to pass him back in nearly an identical fashion.

Though Creed tried to close the gap back over the final 92 laps, he fell .896-of-a-second shy of Custer at the checkered flag. He still, however, secured his series-leading 13th top five finish of the season.

Creed has now been second 13 times in his Xfinity Series career, the most such finishes ever without a victory in a single NASCAR national touring series. The late James Hylton finished second 12 times in the NASCAR Cup Series before finally breaking into victory lane in 1970 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway.

Asked what he might have been able to do differently in order to maintain the top spot from Custer, Creed immediately circled back to his big wiggle in turns three and four on lap 209.

“Just not slipping up there when I had the lead; if I’d held it, I think we could have made it tough on him,” Creed explained. “He got loose on the first restart when he got the lead, and then I did the same thing that he did. Just got free there – I felt like I was pretty good there in the middle of the run, and I could stay with him – so I was just trying to pace with him, and then I pancaked the fence all by myself.

“I hit it four or five more times, and I felt like I never really recovered after that. Just was a little too tight at the end of the run when we got to lap traffic, when I would get close [enough to challenge],” Creed added. “I just needed to turn a little bit better. We are really consistent with our Toyota team – another second – so I’ll take it and we will keep moving forward.”

After clinching a playoff berth one race early at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International, Creed enters the postseason as the No. 9 seed, three points below the initial cutoff line after earning seven playoff points from his regular season efforts.

He ranked fifth in total regular season points earned and feels his Joe Gibbs Racing team’s consistency will propel them to a deep playoff run and a potential shot at an Xfinity Series championship.

“This is a great way for us to roll into the playoffs, and because there will be spots on points available every round in order to advance, we know how valuable it is to be a team that can go out and pile up as many points as possible every single race,” Creed noted. “Fighting for a championship is never easy, but this team has the strength and the persistence to go out and get it done.”

But Creed admitted he’s tired of hearing about his record number of second-place finishes with a goose-egg in the win column. That “doesn’t matter anymore” as far as he’s concerned.

“I don’t even want to know how many runner-ups it is anymore,” he said. “All that matters is that we’re performing strong at the right time, and that’s all you can ask for from your team as a driver.”

Creed and his 11 playoff rivals will kick off the seven-race NASCAR Xfinity Series postseason Saturday, Sept. 28 at Kansas Speedway with the running of the Kansas Lottery 300.

Broadcast coverage is slated for 4 p.m. ET, live on FS1, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.