Joe Gibbs Racing driver Sheldon Creed will join the Haas Factory team, taking over the #00 team in 2025. After his stint with RCR and Chevy and the Toyota at JGR, he will test his luck with a new Ford entity. Yeah, we can stress the luck factor as the driver, despite being the most consistent driver in the Xfinity Series, has been unable to grab a victory.

Despite JGR’s dominance and historic significance, Sheldon Creed found the opportunity at Haas Factory Team a sensible one. For all his efforts and performances, a win has always eluded him. Therefore, going forward, he wanted an opportunity that could provide him with more than just a winning car. And currently, the SHR Ford, especially the #00, is the class of the field. So when the opportunity came calling, Creed was quick to sign up for this new project.

Sheldon Creed explains why he couldn’t turn down the offer to join the Haas Factory team

The SHR Fords, despite a slow start to the 2024 season, have quickly caught up to the competition. Cole Custer, fresh from his championship exploits in 2023, has regained the momentum with the #00 at the right time. He enters the playoffs with two wins and the tag of regular season champion. Meanwhile, Riley Herbst will join him in the playoffs after a win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

In comparison, Creed hasn’t had a bad stretch of races with JGR. In fact, he has thirteen top 5 finishes driving the #18 Toyota, but without the win, he is on the bubble entering the playoffs. So how does he overcome this streak of mishaps and turn a new leaf? Going by his decision, it feels like another switch to a new team in 2025 would do the trick for him.

“I mean, first off, I’ve really enjoyed my time with Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota. Honestly, it was purely a business decision to move on, just the way everything works. So I’m happy that I landed at my feet at a winning organization like Stewart Haas; it will be Haas Factory next year. And watching those cars 00, 98 racing with them this year, their stuff is really good.” Creed said this while speaking on the NASCAR Live podcast.

Although he has secured a ride for the next year, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver is looking to give his all in the playoffs. The priority for him in the next seven races will be to open his account with a win after having finished in the runner-up position 13 times in his Xfinity career.

Will Creed manage to break his winless luck in 2024?

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Winning wasn’t an issue for Sheldon Creed during his time in the Truck Series. He has 8 wins to his name in the series, along with a championship triumph in 2020. However, ever since he joined the Xfinity Series, he seemed to have hit the brick wall and has been unable to cross the finish line.

In 2024 itself, the JGR driver has six second-place finishes. This includes back-to-back 2nd places in his last two races at Watkins Glen and Bristol Motor Speedway. It’s always been the case of him coming oh so close to winning a race and then falling short at the very last moment. Despite this wretched state of run, Creed is looking forward to his playoff campaign. And grabbing that win is on his priority list.

“Obviously, I want to be consistent these next seven races, but I would really love to win in this first round, win stages so our points are up, and would love to go win Vegas or Homestead and have an off weekend for Martinsville [in the Round of 8],” Creed said this to NASCAR. While he has been consistent, the lack of stage wins will see him start the playoffs on a bubble. Moving forward, he wants to make sure he adds enough stage points to provide him with a buffer to tackle a bad outing.

“So yeah, that’s definitely a main focus is stage wins and and top-five stage points to get to the next round. Like you said, we’re negative three, which is three spots in a stage. So it’s definitely doable. Everyone’s going to be good. We start with 12, so two guys aren’t going to point in the stages. So it’s going to be really important this first round to capitalize on that,” he added.

The good news for Creed is that, despite his troubles with lack of wins, he still has an opportunity to make amends in the playoffs. All it takes is one win to overturn the fortunes of a race team, and this is exactly what the #18 team will be banking on with the race at Kansas Speedway.