“I Was Stuck”: Former Richard Childress Talent Confesses Joe Gibbs Racing’s Superiority Changing His NASCAR Career Path

Sheldon Creed has been on a streak of a hot run and he definitely looks like a man on a mission after his sour departure from RCR. The 26-year-old is just in his third season in the Xfinity Series, and despite his potential and talent as a skilled driver, it just did not tick for him at RCR. Not to forget, the driver was publicly criticized by team owner Richard Childress at the Martinsville race last season, calling him stupid.

The cracks were already present well before Creed made a call to switch teams. Despite his good run in 2023, he was winless with 7 top-five finishes and had trouble with sponsorship during his time at RCR. It does sound like the young driver was unable to live up to his potential, and the team surely was not helping his cause. However, nobody knew the real cause of his exit from RCR and what led to him joining Joe Gibbs Racing, until now.

Creed didn’t feel at home during his time at RCR

Interestingly, JGR was not the first door Sheldon knocked on for a new home in the Xfinity Series. He tried his luck at SHR after Josh Berry moved to the Cup Series, but Sammy Smith was quick to fill in the spot. Joe Gibbs Racing had always been on his wish list, and he was also in contact with Steve deSouza. He and his grandfather even visited the JGR camp, but for some reason, it just didn’t work out.

However, with the turn of the new year, the team was looking to rebrand its Xfinity program and saw Sheldon Creed as a perfect fit for their organization. Speaking to NASCAR,  Creed opened up about his experiences at RCR and his decision to switch. He said, “I was looking at the future, and I wasn’t in love with where I was. I liked it, I had fun and had a lot of good people around me, but I wasn’t enjoying it as much as I wanted to. I felt like I would fit in better here or somewhere else.”

The inconsistency in his results did bother the driver, and he just could not accept the reality of the situation. “I felt like I was stuck. Some weeks, we would be good, and some weeks, we would run 15th all day. That was frustrating to me. There was maybe nothing that I could do about it, but it was tough to accept that. I didn’t think it was me.”

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Sheldon Creed’s credentials as a race car driver are promising; he has ARCA Series and Truck Series titles under his belt. So with a move to JGR, he could well find his lost spark.

2024: The make-or-break season for JGR’s No. 18

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Creed is self-critical of himself, and after two failed attempts to win the Xfinity Series, the 2024 season is a crucial one for him. Shifting from Chevrolet to Toyota is a big switch for a driver, and now that he has secured a Toyota car seat for himself, he really wants to make this opportunity count.

“I’ve said in the past that I think Gibbs cars are some of the best. I’m getting rid of that excuse now this year. Now, it’s up to me. I like that pressure, and me saying that puts pressure on myself. If I don’t do good this year and run the same, I’ll go race dirt for fun. This is a proving year to myself as well.” Creed added.

The former RCR driver also spoke about rekindling the lost spark from his Truck Series days. “I came out of trucks winning, and if I wasn’t the favorite, I was at least looked at. I went to two years of not running good and, in my opinion, got forgotten about. If I could turn this into a good year with multiple wins and a shot at the championship, then I feel like I put my name back in the conversation.”