Two Great Learning Opportunities for Creed at Mid-Ohio

LEXINGTON, OH, August 18, 2017 (Newswire.com) - Sheldon Creed had a challenging doubleheader weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course as he made his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut with JD Motorsports and returned to the Trans Am Series for the third time this season with Stevens-Miller Racing. It was Creed’s first-time racing at the challenging 2.25-mile, 13-turn Mid-Ohio circuit.

The stormy weather on Friday limited Creed to one Trans Am practice session as Trans Am qualifying was canceled as well as the Xfinity Series practice due to lightning in the vicinity. Saturday then became an even busier day with a very early 8 a.m. Xfinity practice session, the Trans Am race at 9:30 a.m, Xfinity qualifying at noon, and finally the Xfinity Series race at 3:30 p.m.

Creed hoped to get up to speed on driving the heavier Xfinity car around the very technical Mid-Ohio track in the early morning practice, however his gearbox jammed after just a handful of laps, leaving him with very little time to get the car set up before Xfinity qualifying. The lack of setup time showed in qualifying, resulting in a very disappointing 32nd position in the 40-car field for the #01 United Rentals/A.M. Ortega JD Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro.

Creed hoped to run a steady and clean Xfinity race and methodically move up the order for a strong finish.  Indeed he gained 8-10 places on the first half lap, but unfortunately suffered another jammed gearbox towards the end of the first lap; necessitating a trip to the garage area for repairs and the loss of 16 laps. The gearbox was freshly rebuilt before the weekend, which caused much head scratching among all concerned.  The JD Motorsports crew did an excellent job making the repair and getting Creed back on track where he showed good speed, running with the leaders after one race restart. Unfortunately, Creed suffered another mechanical gremlin later in the race and ended up running at the finish but 19 laps down in 34th place. It was certainly not the Xfinity Series debut Creed or the JD Motorsports team had hoped for, but they will have another chance in the Johnsonville 180 at Road America on Sunday, August 27th.

Creed’s experience in the #77 United Rentals/Speedlogix/A.M. Ortega Dodge for Stevens-Miller Racing in the Trans Am race was better, but still not without challenges. Despite being among the fastest 5-6 cars throughout practice, Creed would line up for the race in 13th because Trans Am qualifying was cancelled. When the green flag dropped for the 45-lap race, Creed was able to advance to 10th place in the opening laps.  Then, a bit of “agricultural racing” on lap 6 saw Creed go off course while avoiding a slower car and mow some of the beautiful Mid-Ohio grass, dropping down the order to 21st. Unfortunately, the off-course excursion ripped the splitter off the front of Creed’s car, impeding the handling of the car for the rest of the race. Despite that, Creed was able to claw his way back up through the field, ultimately crossing the line in 7th place behind former IndyCar driver, Rafa Matos. A post-race disqualification of another competitor promoted Creed to an official finish of 6th place, for his third top-10 finish from 3 starts in Trans Am this season. Creed will return to the Trans Am Series for the next round at Road America on August 26th, where he will again pull double-duty by competing in both the NASCAR Xfinity and Trans Am Series on the same weekend.

Creed’s next event will be this weekend when he will make his first start for Mason Mitchell Motorsports in the ARCA Racing Series Herr’s Potato Chips 100 at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. This will be Creed’s first ever ARCA Series race on dirt and he will be behind the wheel of the No. 78 United Rentals/A.M. Ortega Construction/RTL Leasing Chevrolet. MMM are the defending winners of this race as Justin Haley took the checkers in the 2016 edition of the Springfield Mile. Creed will return to the cockpit of the #78 MMM Chevrolet for the General Tire Grabber 100 on the dirt 1-mile oval at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds, in DuQuoin, Illinois.

Sheldon Creed on Mid-Ohio and Springfield:

“Mid-Ohio was definitely a tough weekend all around, and neither race really went the way we wanted, but the good news is that we get to run both of those cars again in a couple of weeks at Road America. We learned a lot at Mid-Ohio and I’m sure we’ll have a much better weekend at Road America. I’ve never been there before, but I’ll definitely be doing a ton of iRacing laps on my Sim to get ready! On Springfield and DuQuoin, I think my driving background will help for the two dirt races. It's going to be very slick and coming from dirt I'll have a good idea what to expect and different things you can do to get the car around the track.”

Sheldon Creed has a brand-new website, developed in conjunction with Race Face Brand Development. It features the latest news on Sheldon’s career, as well as lots of great photos, videos, and radio interviews. Check it out at www.sheldoncreedracing.com.

Practice for the Herr's Potato Chips 100 is scheduled from 9 - 10am CT, with General Tire Pole Qualifying following at 11 a.m. The 55th annual Herr's Potato Chips 100 starts at 1:30 p.m. CT.

The Herr's Potato Chips 100 is Live on MAVTV at 1:30 CT/2:30 ET. You can also follow live timing and scoring and live chat of all on-track activity throughout the afternoon at www.arcaracing.com.

About Sheldon Creed:

Sheldon Creed, nicknamed “The Showstopper” began racing BMX at age 3 and won 2 motocross championships at age 6. He has won at least one championship every year since 2008.

Career Highlights:

•           25 Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series 1st Place Finishes

•           5 Championship Off Road Racing Series 1st Place Finishes

•           2015 – X-Games Gold Medalist in Stadium Super Trucks

•           2015 & 2016 Speed Energy Stadium Super Trucks Champion

•           2016 - NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, ARCA Series, & the world-famous Dakar Rally

•           2017 - Competing in the ARCA Series, NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, K&N Pro Series West,  NASCAR Xfinity Series, Trans Am Series, and Stadium Super Trucks Series

Media Contact:
Brian Bonner
Email: bonner@brmrace.com
Ph: (978) 361-5295

Source: Sheldon Creed Racing