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 not have been so defensive if he and Hill swapped places, and admitted his role as the number two driver 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.”

Race results

Finish	Start	Number	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Status
1	2	7	Justin Allgaier	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet	256	Running
2	8	2	Sheldon Creed	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	256	Running
3	1	18	Sammy Smith	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	256	Running
4	4	98	Riley Herbst	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	256	Running
5	12	8	Josh Berry	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet	256	Running
6	14	10	Daniel Hemric	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	256	Running
7	10	31	Parker Retzlaff	Jordan Anderson Racing	Chevrolet	256	Running
8	22	78	Anthony Alfredo	B.J. McLeod Motorsports	Chevrolet	256	Running
9	38	27	Jeb Burton	Jordan Anderson Racing	Chevrolet	256	Running
10	15	48	Parker Kligerman	Big Machine Racing Team	Chevrolet	256	Running
11	19	11	Layne Riggs	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	256	Running
12	26	44	Rajah Caruth*	Alpha Prime Racing	Chevrolet	256	Running
13	34	28	C.J. McLaughlin	RSS Racing	Ford	256	Running
14	24	92	Josh Williams	DGM Racing	Chevrolet	256	Running
15	11	19	Myatt Snider	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	256	Running
16	6	9	Brandon Jones	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	256	Running
17	20	51	Jeremy Clements	Jeremy Clements Racing	Chevrolet	256	Running
18	5	20	John Hunter Nemechek	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	256	Running
19	3	00	Cole Custer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	256	Running
20	16	25	Brett Moffitt	AM Racing	Ford	256	Running
21	9	21	Austin Hill	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	255	Accident
22	31	02	Blaine Perkins	Our Motorsports	Chevrolet	255	Accident
23	18	91	Josh Bilicki	DGM Racing	Chevrolet	255	Accident
24	32	43	Ryan Ellis	Alpha Prime Racing	Chevrolet	245	Transmission
25	17	1	Sam Mayer	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet	244	Accident
26	29	45	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Alpha Prime Racing	Chevrolet	244	Accident
27	30	08	Chad Finchum	SS-Green Light Racing	Ford	244	Accident
28	23	26	Kaz Grala	Sam Hunt Racing	Toyota	243	Accident
29	33	38	Joe Graf Jr.	RSS Racing	Ford	240	Running
30	35	35	Chris Hacker*	Emerling-Gase Motorsports	Chevrolet	237	Radiator
31	25	24	Connor Mosack	Sam Hunt Racing	Toyota	232	Radiator
32	27	6	Brennan Poole	JD Motorsports	Chevrolet	218	Engine
33	36	53	Akinori Ogata*	Emerling-Gase Motorsports	Chevrolet	217	Oil Line
34	21	4	J.J. Yeley	JD Motorsports	Chevrolet	207	Accident
35	13	39	Ryan Sieg	RSS Racing	Ford	203	Steering
36	7	16	Chandler Smith	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	187	Accident
37	37	07	Devin Jones	SS-Green Light Racing	Chevrolet	131	Engine
38	28	29	Kyle Sieg	RSS Racing	Ford	40	Accident
DNQ		66	Timmy Hill	MBM Motorsports	Toyota

Bold – Currently in playoffs
Underline – Eliminated from playoffs
Italics – Competing for Rookie of the Year
* – Ineligible for points