Sheldon Creed was going to do all he could to make the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs, even if it meant running full speed and riding the wall. Unfortunately for him, as sparks poured out of his car, Noah Gragson had more than enough momentum on the inside line through the final two corners to beat him to the finish.
Creed, whose rookie season has been plagued by bad luck and misfortunes, looked to be the late favourite in Saturday’s event at Darlington Raceway as he led much of the final stage. Brandon Jones’ spin set up a fourteen-lap run to the finish in which he faced challenges from Gragson and Cup Series driver Kyle Larson. Larson caught Creed’s bumper in the waning moments before attempting his move as they began the final lap, which led to contact that pushed Creed into the wall.
As Larson and Creed ran side-by-side along the backstretch, Gragson capitalised by passing both of them on the inside. Creed felt his right-front tyre suffer a flat and, not sensing any other option if he wanted to win, did not brake entering turns three and four and consequently hit the wall. The move sacrificed Creed’s car to scrape more speed together in what many dubbed a “video game move”, but Gragson on the shorter inside groove with a consistent high speed rendered his action for naught.
Despite the defeat, Creed did not hold ill feeling towards Larson and shook his hand on pit road. Although he fell short of the win, the runner-up finish is the best of his Xfinity career to date and elevated him to thirteenth in points, sixteen below the playoff cut line with two races remaining. The forty-seven laps led were also his most in an Xfinity race.
“I was hoping they were going to get to racing behind me and kind of let me go there and when Kyle got next to me, my only opportunity was to go and side-draft as hard as I could,” Creed told NBC Sports. “We got in the wall there and I felt the right-front go down there going down the backstretch, so the only option was to pin it against the fence like playing Xbox or something. It worked for a while and then I just got stuck in it. Man, I wish that would have worked.”
Gragson won Stage #1 and led a race-high eighty-two laps en route to his career-best fourth win of 2022. It is his second win at Darlington after the 2021 Sport Clips VFW Help a Hero 200.
The race was delayed for two-and-a-half hours by rain after the first stage. Gragson’s JR Motorsports team-mate Justin Allgaier claimed the second stage and would finish fourth.
Race results
| Finish | Start | Number | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Status |
| 1 | 2 | 9 | Noah Gragson | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 147 | Running |
| 2 | 3 | 2 | Sheldon Creed | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 147 | Running |
| 3 | 19 | 16 | A.J. Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 147 | Running |
| 4 | 6 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 147 | Running |
| 5 | 7 | 17 | Kyle Larson* | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 147 | Running |
| 6 | 5 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 147 | Running |
| 7 | 36 | 18 | Christopher Bell* | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 147 | Running |
| 8 | 15 | 8 | Josh Berry | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 147 | Running |
| 9 | 17 | 26 | John Hunter Nemechek* | Sam Hunt Racing | Toyota | 147 | Running |
| 10 | 4 | 21 | Austin Hill | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 147 | Running |
| 11 | 12 | 1 | Sam Mayer | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 147 | Running |
| 12 | 9 | 10 | Landon Cassill | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 147 | Running |
| 13 | 10 | 11 | Daniel Hemric | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 147 | Running |
| 14 | 1 | 19 | Brandon Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 147 | Running |
| 15 | 11 | 48 | Ross Chastain* | Big Machine Racing Team | Chevrolet | 147 | Running |
| 16 | 16 | 34 | Kyle Weatherman | Jesse Iwuji Motorsports | Chevrolet | 147 | Running |
| 17 | 14 | 45 | Stefan Parsons* | Alpha Prime Racing | Chevrolet | 147 | Running |
| 18 | 25 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | RSS Racing | Ford | 147 | Running |
| 19 | 22 | 4 | Bayley Currey | JD Motorsports | Chevrolet | 147 | Running |
| 20 | 27 | 91 | Mason Massey | DGM Racing | Chevrolet | 147 | Running |
| 21 | 13 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Jeremy Clements Racing | Chevrolet | 147 | Running |
| 22 | 31 | 44 | Ryan Ellis | Alpha Prime Racing | Chevrolet | 147 | Running |
| 23 | 38 | 38 | Kyle Sieg | RSS Racing | Ford | 147 | Running |
| 24 | 18 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Our Motorsports | Chevrolet | 147 | Running |
| 25 | 30 | 08 | David Starr | SS-Green Light Racing | Ford | 147 | Running |
| 26 | 29 | 36 | Josh Williams | DGM Racing | Chevrolet | 146 | Running |
| 27 | 26 | 6 | Ryan Vargas | JD Motorsports | Chevrolet | 146 | Running |
| 28 | 21 | 31 | Myatt Snider | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | 145 | Running |
| 29 | 32 | 78 | Brandon Brown | B.J. McLeod Motorsports | Chevrolet | 145 | Running |
| 30 | 35 | 35 | Dawson Cram | Emerling-Gase Motorsports | Ford | 145 | Running |
| 31 | 28 | 47 | Brennan Poole* | Mike Harmon Racing | Chevrolet | 86 | Axle |
| 32 | 23 | 66 | J.J. Yeley | MBM Motorsports | Toyota | 83 | Engine |
| 33 | 20 | 07 | Joe Graf Jr. | SS-Green Light Racing | Ford | 61 | Accident |
| 34 | 8 | 98 | Riley Herbst | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 56 | DVP |
| 35 | 24 | 02 | Ty Dillon* | Our Motorsports | Chevrolet | 55 | Electrical |
| 36 | 34 | 68 | Kris Wright* | Brandonbilt Motorsports | Chevrolet | 55 | Accident |
| 37 | 37 | 23 | Anthony Alfredo | Our Motorsports | Chevrolet | 51 | Accident |
| 38 | 33 | 5 | Tommy Joe Martins | B.J. McLeod Motorsports | Chevrolet | 44 | Radiator |
| DNQ | 13 | Chad Finchum | MBM Motorsports | Ford |
* – Ineligible for points