We’ve all seen it.
The post-race snickers, the airing of someone else’s career news and all the Silly Season drama the NASCAR Xfinity Series can offer, but who’s right? Who’s wrong?
That’s what I’m here to tell you before the season comes to a close, and the answer is obvious – it’s Richard Childress Racing, and it’s not particularly close.
I’ve been one of the most open voices on the fact that Sheldon Creed hasn’t been able to get the job done in the No. 2 Chevy Camaro, and that he’s wound up with it in the wall in the worst possible moments. However, Creed had a chance this weekend to put all of that behind him, and he did everything he could to make sure that happened.
In case you’ve been under a rock for the last few days, the car that Creed bumped and ran on in the early part of that video was Austin Hill’s, his teammate at RCR. Creed needed to win in order to advance and Hill didn’t, point blank. Even if Hill would have just slid up the track, blocked Justin Allgaier and let his teammate cruise to a win, both RCR cars would be advancing to the championship round.
Hill obviously didn’t know that, though, and took to the media post-race to air his frustrations and drop a bomb shell on where Creed, who announced his exit from RCR recently, will be driving next year, allegedly.
Obviously, Hill wasn’t clear on the positioning of fellow playoff driver Cole Custer, or he would have known that he could’ve let Creed by and things would have been fine. What, then, is the point of having a spotter or crew chief with a headset on if they’re not going to share pertinent information like that?
To top it all off, RCR Vice President of Competition Andy Petree had some words for Creed after the race, before Petree began a PR campaign that he’s still on leading up to this week’s race.
Creed can clearly be heard saying “If (Hill) touched me, you guys wouldn’t have said s#*!,” and he’s right. If roles had been reversed, RCR would waive its golden boy around like he’s the second coming of Dale Earnhardt Sr., because a) they would have known Creed was already gone and b) it’s what they’ve done all year long.
All in all, it’s about as tough of a look on RCR as any. It’s signed up-and-comer Jesse Love to drive the No. 2 next year, who’s a very talented driver in his own right, but I pray that they give Love a fair shake instead of making him play second fiddle all season long. After all, RCR isn’t exactly in the position to be letting young drivers walk out the door on a regular basis, especially ones that have shown real promise at times, like Sheldon Creed.
Creed is leaving a program that very clearly favors one driver over the other and jumping ship for one that has indubitably offered him a fresh start. I don’t blame him a bit, and neither should you.
Tanner Marlar is a staff writer for Sports Illustrated’s OnSI Network, a contributor for TopSpeed.com, an AP Wire reporter, an award-winning sports columnist and talk show host and master's student at Mississippi State University. Soon, Tanner will be pursuing a PhD. in Mass Media Studies. Tanner began working with Frontstretch as an Xfinity Series columnist in 2022.