Xfinity Star Triggers Double Over-Time After Massive Wreck Rains Down on Sheldon Creed’s Talladega Parade

The final laps of the Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega saw some treacherous drama as former Richard Childress Racing driver, Sheldon Creed spun out of contention for his first Xfinity Series victory, driving JGR’s #18 Supra. Ironically, as Parker Kligerman brought out the 6th caution of the race on extra laps, it was again, the #48 Chevy driver who spun out Creed’s former teammate, Austin Hill to send the originally scheduled 113-lap event into overtime.

Another notable driver involved in the incident was Josh Williams of Kaulig Racing, who joined Kligerman to lead the field into Turn 1 after the overtime restart. However, the late-race struggles amidst all the chaos around did not mean much to RCR’s winning participant, Jesse Love, as the youngster navigated multiple enforced yellows en route to claim his first Xfinity Series victory at Talladega on Saturday.

But as Bob Pockrass of FOX, swiftly updated on Twitter, “Kligerman said his car was sputtering on overtime restart.” Hence, the overtime wreckage can be deemed as largely unintentional. Interestingly, Kligerman starting the race in P3, was also responsible for the Stage 2 disappointments of Dale Jr’s #9 driver, Brandon Jones. As it happens, race-winner Love would win the first stage while Hill would take the second.

Not a matter of if, but when for Sheldon Creed

For most of the race, RCR’s #21 driver looked set to finally overturn his Talladega fortunes with a maiden victory at the 2.66-mile superspeedway. But his former teammate, Sheldon Creed also crashed out of contention for a debut victory and his current teammate, only 19 years old, took the #2 Chevy to victory lane for the first of many presumed races this season.

As Creed registered two podium finishes already, and another top-5, driving a Toyota for the first time with Joe Gibbs Racing, he was among the many primed for a debut Xfinity Series win at Talladega in 2024. However, as fortunes would reflect the recent overtime disappointments, Creed would live up to his name to emerge from around P16 to an inspirational P6 spot, in a desperate run that saw him edge out a two-time Dega champion – Jeb Burton.

Also battling with the perilous fuel management constraints in overtime, Creed displayed maturity similar to the kind expected from future Cup Series JGR drivers. Will the #18 Supra driver someday get a permanent seat in the Toyota Camry XSEs? For now, he must focus on winning an Xfinity race first.