What’s Happening?

Sheldon Creed and RCR’s split up was an ugly one, and Creed aired out his grievances during an interview on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. In the interview, Creed stated that he was not happy with how he ran the last couple of year, and that the car was holding him back. Is there any truth to his claims?

You Need to Know:

• Creed discussed how the JGR deal came about, and how he was frustrated that he was not winning. He said he even considered going back to the Truck Series, but, he settled on JGR in the Xfinity Series.
• Creed failed to win a race in two seasons at RCR. The split became uglier when Creed and teammate Austin Hill got together at the end of a race at Martinsville, knocking both out of the Championship 4.
• Not every fan agreed with Creed’s comments. Many felt the car was not the issue with Creed, and others said that Creed now has no excuses at JGR.

Was the Car the Problem?

There are two factors to consider in this debate. First is Sheldon Creed’s performance, and the second is the performance of RCR as a whole.

Sheldon Creed

Creed did not perform as well as he hoped in the Xfinity Series. In two seasons, he did not win a race, and he failed to make the Playoffs in his rookie season.

That was a far cry from his Truck Series performance. In three full-time Truck Series seasons, Creed won eight races and the 2020 Series Championship.

From Creed’s perspective, it’s understandable to think that the car may be the problem. To Creed, he has performed well in NASCAR before, and a big difference now is the car he drives and the team he drives for. Therefore, it’s easy to look at the car as the problem.

However, drivers do not always continue to perform as well as they move their way up the ranks. Just because a driver has a dominant season with great success in a lower series, that doesn’t mean they will continue that success. We recently did an article about this principle in the ARCA Series.

Richard Childress Racing

Many fans pointed to Austin Hill and his success in similar RCR equipment. He won four races in 2023 and two more in 2022. If he was winning races, then why wasn’t Creed?

It’s also worth looking at how the 2-car has performed in the past. Tyler Reddick won six races and the Xfinity Series Championship in the 2-car in 2019. Myatt Snider won a race in the 2-car in 2021 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Still, if these other drivers can win races and Championships with RCR in the Xfinity Series, why can’t Creed? It’s a fair question.

Then again, there could be a myriad of things going on behind the scenes that we do not know about. Maybe the 2-car has some sort of disadvantage for one reason or another, or Creed and the team struggled to gel. We don’t ultimately know, but, it’s not impossible. Still, it’s indisputable that he underperformed compared to his teammate.

In the Stands

Fans gave their thoughts on Sheldon Creed’s comments on social media. Not everyone was a fan of Creed’s comments.

Mario says that JGR has no excuses now.

Graham Hill says that it went down to team communication rather than just the car itself.

Mike Curry says that it is time for Creed to back it up on the race track.

Champa Bay Beast says that Austin Hill did not struggle nearly as much.

Vaxen says that he’s seen this movie before.

Will Sheldon Creed prove himself right at JGR in 2024? Was the car really the problem, or was he just underperforming?