Toyota Racing – Sheldon Creed
NASCAR Xfinity Series Quotes
CHARLOTTE (September 24, 2024) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Sheldon Creed was made available to the media today as part of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff Media Day.
SHELDON CREED, No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota has won nine of the last 12 Xfinity Series races at Kansas. How does that bode for your team this weekend?
“It is, yeah. I didn’t know it was that many. Nine out of 12? That’s a really good rate there. I don’t what we are in the points, minus three right now? Yeah, I mean, obviously our guys are confident. We have a really good notebook, obviously with John Hunter (Nemechek) winning there last year. We honestly based our sim session off the No. 20 from last year and worked around it from there. Yeah, I feel good about the notebook that we have. Obviously, we’ve been pretty consistent lately and unloading pretty good. So, I think all of that is going to be really important this weekend. Having a good practice session. Qualifying is going to be very important as stage points are going to be even more important now as we get into these first couple of rounds. Obviously, if we can’t win the race, we want to point our way in (to the next round). Yeah, I mean for me, I’m going to keep doing what we’ve been doing the last few weeks. Just trying to be consistent and be towards the front and obviously, you want to want to win the stages and win the race, so going to be going for that.”
What are the emotions still looking for your first career win as the Playoffs start?
“Yeah, obviously Daniel (Hemric) and others have proved you can point your way in there (Championship 4) and win the championship. I think Matt Crafton did it in 2019. So, it is possible. You have to be really consistent, really good to do that, which I think we do have the consistency and speed which we’ve shown in the last two-to-three months. I don’t want to back on that, I guess? I want to be consistent the next seven races, but I would really love to win in this first round, win stages so our points are up and would love to go win (Las) Vegas or Homestead and have an ‘off weekend’ in Martinsville.”
How will the lack of Playoff points impact your approach to the Playoffs?
“Yeah, we’ve won like one stage and the 7 car (Justin Allgaier) has won 14? So that’s 14 more points that he’s starting with. Stages pay a lot. I think I finished fifth in the regular season points and some of the cars in front of us just scored way more stage points than we did, and we probably had higher finishes than them. They just pay a lot, maybe too much in some scenarios. Yeah, that’s definitely a main focus – stage wins and top-five stage points to continue to the next round. Like you said, we’re negative three which is three spots in a stage. It’s definitely doable. Everyone’s going to be good. What do we start with, 12? So, two guys won’t be getting points in the stages, so it’s going to be really important in this first round to capitalize on that.”
Has this season provided more confidence for you and your career?
“Yeah, I think it certainly has. I think I came to JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) pretty low on confidence and yeah, I’m not sure I was having fun with it anymore. And yeah, I think that’s all turned around. I think my confidence grows every week. We’ve been leading laps more recently. Don’t want to say we should’ve won Darlington but were in position to win Darlington. So yeah, confidence has been up, and our team has a lot of fun. Running top-five every week is fun, right? It’s better than running sixth, seventh or eighth, or 12th-15th. Yeah, I think everyone’s in a good mood right now and working really hard at it. I’d say the No. 18 team is in a good place.”
How do you view the narrative about your second-place finishes and coming so close to your first win?
“Yeah, I think each situation has been unique. This weekend (at Bristol), we straight up ran second. I slid, same thing that the No. 00 (Cole Custer) did the restart before and then he just out-ran me that whole last run. But I’ll pull up New Hampshire for instance. I got in position to get the lead into (turn) one, and I thought I did a good job in (turn) one and (turn) two, but looking back, watching the replays and race back, there’s just things you can do differently in every situation. So, I try to learn from all of them. In that instance, I thought I diamonded the corner too much and I fed the No. 00 air and I didn’t hold the No. 20 (Christopher Bell) tight enough and the No. 00 was able to get back to me. Yeah, each situation has been different. I don’t think I’ve done the same mistake twice, right? I just try to learn and be better every single week. I mean, for a second there, it was getting annoying. I got annoyed with myself and why do I keep running second, right? But lately, I’ve just haven’t cared and have been having a lot of fun being fast and consistent and in the picture of winning.”
This was around the time last year of your ending with Richard Childress Racing. Have you closed the door fully on that chapter?
“I mean, it was rough there after Martinsville, obviously. I don’t know, Austin (Hill) and I didn’t talk for about four-to-five months. And then, yeah, we’ve hung out a couple times away from the track and we’ve not talked about it at all. Yeah, I think that’s in a much better place now. I was good friends with a lot of people who are at RCR (Richard Childress Racing). All the engine guys and guys in the shop, the guys on the road. All of those relationships stayed the same. I don’t think the No. 21 group was really a huge fan of me for a while. Yeah, it’s been all good all year for what it’s seemed like.”
What do you think the feeling will be when you get your first win? And where do you see your career going after that?
“Yeah, I feel like it’ll be a huge weight off my shoulders. Obviously, this has been riding on me for three years now. Yeah, I don’t know, I’ll for sure be relieved. And it’s going to happen, one of these days. I thought it was going to happen just a couple weeks ago at Darlington. Yeah, once we win, I have a feeling they’ll come a little easier and hopefully more often. Yeah, I think at this point, where everything is at, you have to win races if you want to go to Cup (Series) and have a paid-for ride and not have to bring money to a Cup team. That’s the goal. Obviously, I think I’m consistent enough to maybe have Cup teams interested, but they want to see winners and I have to do that more often.”
About Toyota
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