Martinsville madness ends in Childress conflict

Sheldon Creed‘s tenure at Richard Childress Racing does not end until after the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series season ends at Phoenix Raceway, but the team probably does not have a farewell party planned following Saturday’s Martinsville Speedway debacle.

Creed entered Martinsville needing a win to qualify for the Championship Round while team-mate Austin Hill maintained his position in the top four, and both seemed to be on the right path to at least achieve their individual goals as they began overtime sharing the front row. Both ended up being eliminated entirely after Creed attempted a last-ditch pass on Hill for the lead going into the final two corners, following a series of bumps between the two, enabling Justin Allgaier to sneak by when Creed ran wide and in front of Hill.

Hill was turned by John Hunter Nemechek as the pack bunched up in turn three, triggering a pile-up while Creed tried to recover. However, in a repeat of the Daytona race in August, he lost the drag race to the finish to Allgaier. Despite finishing second, Creed was too far back on points to advance while Allgaier and Cole Custer—the latter finishing backwards and on fire due to the wreck—leapfrogged Hill to take the final two spots. Custer was only a point ahead of Hill on the final lap, and secured the fourth seed as Hill was relegated to twenty-first.

The second-place finish adds yet another entry to Creed’s growing list of heartbreaks in the Xfinity Series. He has yet to win in the division, which sticks out in comparison to Hill who entered the series alongside him but already has six victories and won the 2023 regular season championship. Both drivers had clashed at fellow short track Bristol to start the playoffs, seemingly enflaming some tensions that might have surfaced during their two seasons together. Doing little to alleviate the perception that Hill was receiving preferential treatment over Creed, RCR vice president Andy Petree confronted him after the race while team owner Richard Childress went as far as to remark that he has “had drivers drive for me but nobody as stupid as Sheldon Creed.”

Hill also expressed his frustration with his soon-to-be-ex-partner, sarcastically applauding at the #2 pit box and prompting crew chief Jeff Stankiewicz to respond he is not the driver. In his interview with NBC, he added he was “excited for [Creed] to go to his next venture over at Gibbs and I won’t have to worry about him anymore.” Creed has long been rumoured to be joining Joe Gibbs Racing for 2024, though the team has not made an announcement.

Creed argued Petree would have not been so defensive if he and Hill swapped places and admitted his role was “probably part of the reason I’m leaving.”

“If I wanted to guarantee myself a win, I’d do what Ty did last year and spin [Hill] out,” he continued, alluding to Ty Gibbs turning his JGR colleague Brandon Jones for the win at the 2022 Martinsville Xfinity race despite already being locked into the Championship Four. Interestingly, that incident also allowed Allgaier to make the final round. “I moved him up and gave him a fighting shot. He had a fighting shot. I can’t control the #20 spinning him out in three and four.”

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