The weather was perfect in Chicago for The Loop 110 to carry on without a hitch. A stark contrast from the rainy conditions of last year. However, one thing that was the same was Shane van Gisbergen securing a win at Chicago Street Course once again, this time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. And when we talk about drama, there is plenty of it!

Particularly towards the end of the race, with some major reshuffles at the top of the grid. Race leader Jesse Love was outclassed by ‘SVG’, who secured his third win of the season, while the No. 2 Richard Childress driver finished fifth. Even more shockingly, Sheldon Creed, who was 5th for a big chunk of the race, ended up 26th after being spun by Parker Kligerman.

Late drama costs Sheldon Creed the top 5 result

The weekend didn’t begin on the best note for Sheldon Creed, who was forced to start the race in 37th place after being forced to change his engine during practice. It’s a testament to just how quick his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota Supra was that he managed to climb up the grid on a narrow Chicago Street Course and cement himself in 5th place with just three laps to go. However, an incident with Parker Kligerman spun the No. 18 on the racetrack and relegated him to P26 at the end of the race.

Speaking to Frontstretch about the incident, Parker Kligerman was asked why he started a post-race conversation with Kyle Larson. The 33-year-old replied, “He was right there when the 18 came across my nose off 11 and I was like ‘Hey did I do anything crazy there’ Cause to me, the 18 stood out. He tried to go below the two but I was there and he just came across my nose.

“I know Sheldon’s really angry and rightfully so. He and I raced with each other all day. He and I drove from the back. You know he has run into a lot of stuff, I think he was on tilt a lot of the race but there I think it’s just like, when he watches it back I think he’ll see like, ‘Hey you came over but no one told you I was there’.”

Despite starting at the rear after being forced to change his engineer post-qualifying, Kligerman finished tenth in Stage 1, and seventh in Stage 2, earning him an additional five points. Driving the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro for Big Machine Racing, Parker Kligerman’s fourth-place finish was his best of the season so far, and his first since Circuit of the Americas. It was also his 13th top-5 result in his Xfinity Series career so far.

Finishing fifth in Chicago, combined with additional points, means that Kligerman remains ninth in the points standings, 165 points behind reigning champion and leader Cole Custer. The 33-year-old is also 40 points above the playoff cutline, having shown great consistency in recent weeks to finish in the top 10 five times in the last six races.

Creed has his say on the Parker Kligerman incident

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With no wins in his NASCAR Xfinity Series career so far, it’s fair to say that Sheldon Creed’s frustrations have been mounting all season. Despite seven top-5 finishes and ten top-10 results, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver does not have race wins under his belt, despite coming close at New Hampshire and Sonoma earlier this season. The result in Chicago was another one of those instances where had circumstances played out differently, the conversation could have been entirely different.

Speaking about his incident with Parker Kligerman towards the end of the race, Sheldon Creed said, “The 48 says he was there in his interview, which I think he was close, don’t get me wrong. But then he got me loose. He could have turned right or set me back down but he decided to drive through me.” When asked if they would talk and agree to disagree about the incident, Sheldon Creed went on to say, “He’s gotten me a couple of times in the last couple of years. So we’ll see”

Last year, Sheldon Creed and Parker Kligerman made contact in the Xfinity Series Daytona race, with the Big Machine Racing driver taking the blame in that instance. Despite the result this time around, Sheldon Creed has a lot to learn from the race. He started 37th, and climbed up to 13th before the first caution, but was involved in an incident with Riley Herbst’s No. 98 Ford Mustang.

He forced the Stewart-Haas Racing driver into the wall after the front of Creed’s No. 18 collided with Herbst. Two laps later, Herbst forced Creed into the Turn 2 fence as a retaliatory measure, which ripped the right front of the nose and damaged the splitter off Creed’s Toyota Supra. However, it was Sheldon Creed who had the last laugh, as Riley Herbst was forced to retire in what was his fourth DNF of the season.

Speaking about the incident, Sheldon Creed said, “I feel he (Riley Herbst) should just be mad at himself because he just wanted to start problems and he just made his day worse. I don’t know. We’ll talk, we’re buddies. He’s going to be upset for a while but I think he needs to look at the big picture, pull up a replay, I don’t know, and realize that it wasn’t just me driving into him. He just made the whole situation worse by driving me into the fence.”

Do you think there could be a start of a new rivalry between Patrick Kligerman and Sheldon Creed? Let us know in the comments!