After 137 starts, four years of near-misses and a series-record 15 runner-up finishes without a win, Sheldon Creed finally broke through in race 138 and immortalized himself as a NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series winner with a last-lap pass at EchoPark Speedway on Feb. 21.
The victory marked Creed’s first win in a NASCAR top-three series since his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win at Darlington Raceway in Sept. 2021. He now sits third in the 2026 O’Reilly Series points standings as he attempts to qualify for the 12-driver Chase and vie for his first series championship.
Frontstretch had the opportunity to interview Creed at Circuit of the Americas the week after his big win, and he discussed the emotions of scoring his first win, the extravagant celebration that followed and how the win impacts the remainder of his 2026 season and beyond.
Stephen Stumpf, Frontstretch: Sheldon, take me from the very beginning. What was your reaction on turn 3 in the final lap when you saw the No. 21 (Austin Hill) and No. 32 (Ross Chastain) get together and you realized that you were in first and heading straight to the checkered flag?
Sheldon Creed: I mean, at first, I didn’t probably believe it, that the seas parted for me like they did. And then my next worry was how close were they behind me. I didn’t know that the No. 99 (Parker Retzlaff) was as close as he was, and then off of (turn) 4, kind of seeing that nobody had a run, I just started screaming on the radio. Just a lot of joy and excitement.
Stumpf: What was the celebration like at the track, and how long did the celebration last after you got home?
Creed: It was cool to do all the media stuff. It’s been a while, right? So to experience it after winning is awesome. And then I had a few beers at the track, and then I got home and my wife already had like — there’s probably 15 to 20 people at my house and a lot of my guys came and drank a bunch of beers on Saturday night and then fired it back up again Sunday. I was definitely feeling it on Monday when it was time to go back to work.
Stumpf: You had a lot of time to imagine what your first win would look like. Did you think it would come in a relatively clean finish, or did you think it would come in chaos like we saw last weekend?
Creed: I didn’t know, honestly. I’ve been close so many times in so many different scenarios. Lost them a lot of different ways, so yeah, people were like asking like, ‘oh, where do you want to win? Where do you think you’ll be?’ And I just got to the point where I was like, I don’t care where it is or when it is. I just want it to be like that next week, just keep having opportunities. And to have it so early in the season and at a place that I didn’t love (Atlanta) — it’s grown on me a lot in the last couple of years just because handling is starting to become a thing again there.
It’s tough, a lot of decision making. It’s kind of like what we wish like Talladega and Daytona were, right? And maybe the car will change a little bit for those places and maybe handling will be a thing, but Atlanta is shaping up to be a really cool place.
Stumpf: Speaking of Atlanta, Austin Hill was congratulating you in victory lane. The crowd loved it. Just what does it mean as a driver to have that level of fan response and reaction to your first win in the series?
Creed: Yeah, I feel like a lot of people were kind of on the ride with me, at least people that didn’t not like me or like me. To see everyone stick around and to hear them going crazy was awesome, and having Austin come to victory lane — obviously we had our run-ins but we we’re still really good friends away from the track.
Stumpf: Your teammate (Sam Mayer) congratulated you on the frontstretch, then destroyed the splitter of his car. What was — have you guys given Sam a hard time about that? What was the team reaction to when that happened?
Creed: Obviously when I had first seen it, I laughed. And I mean, I guess it’s his fault, right, because he drove through the grass, but that’s not what his intentions were. When you’re going that slow, you don’t really think about the front digging in like it did. So yeah, just a dumb mistake that’s really not; he didn’t know it was going to do that, so just kind of innocent. But yeah, it’s still funny.
Stumpf: You’ve had a year under your belt with Haas Factory Team; what has it been like working with Sam as a teammate?
Creed: Sam’s been great. Obviously, we’re very different. I’m like five years older than him and married with kids and he’s not, so very different in our lives. But we get along really well. We go eat on race weekends a lot together and just talk about our cars and strategy and how we can help each other. And he’s obviously super talented, so yeah, he helps me a lot, and I feel like, hopefully, some of my info helps him. And yeah, we get along really good.
Stumpf: We’re two races into the 2026 season. Now that you got that first win out of the way, how does that change your expectations for the year, if it changes them at all?
Creed: Yeah, I feel 20 pounds lighter on my feet now. I was putting a lot of pressure on myself to win, and I just felt pressure from everyone. So yeah, to finally win is awesome. To do it early on in the season, hopefully it just opens the gates up for us, and now I can believe in myself again, that I can win. And my team I feel like believed it the whole time, but now I feel like we’re all elevated and just more confident going every week. Hopefully we can just put together a lot of good races this year.
Stumpf: Just preparing for this week alone, how much more relaxing was it compared to preparing for last week?
Creed: I don’t know if it was more relaxing because it was kind of a busy week in a good way. Being able to work with Josh Wise again now that we’re back with Chevrolet has been awesome. He’s just a great help, and to be able to see things that he sees and talk through things with him and our group that all works together, just a lot of good stuff comes from him.
Stumpf: You had a multi-year deal signed starting in 2025; you’re here for 2026. Are there any plans to be back at Haas in 2027, or is it too early to think about?
Creed: Yeah, pretty early, but there is definitely that opportunity to come back. If I’m going to be (O’Reilly) racing again, 100% I want to be here with this group. If I have the opportunity to go Cup racing — I don’t know, I think I need to win a few more times this year for that to be an option. But yeah, if I’m going to be (O’Reilly) racing again, I want to be here.
Stumpf: But to go Cup racing, just how much of a boost is this win for you and your resume and for prospective team owners that are looking for drivers to join Cup?
Creed: I felt like my door was kind of shutting after obviously winning in Trucks and being good and then not winning for four years. That door was probably shut, and maybe I have it cracked back open now and may be at the bottom of the list, and just to be on the list is cool. Like I said, just need to win some more races this year and be consistent and have a shot at the championship, and yeah, we’ll see.
Stephen Stumpf is the NASCAR Content Director for Frontstretch and is a three-year veteran of the site. His weekly column is “Stat Sheet,” and he formerly wrote "4 Burning Questions" for three years. He also writes commentaries, contributes to podcasts, edits articles and is frequently at the track for on-site coverage.
Find Stephen on Twitter @stephen_stumpf