Creed makes right moves in winning trucks title
Sheldon Creed was in third place with three laps left in the NASCAR Truck Series championship race Friday night at Phoenix Raceway, when suddenly, a tremendous opportunity to win opened up.
Creed went from ninth place out of a late-race pit stop to the lead in an overtime restart, and captured his first trucks championship in his first trucks championship race.
“I wanted to pit and at least have a shot there,” Creed said. “Just had a plan to run the bottom and try to pick off as many guys as I could.... just had to put together a good lap. Just incredible that we were able to do it.”
Creed had resigned himself to watching GMS Racing teammate Brett Moffitt run away with the Lucas Oil150, the race for the Gander RV & Outdoors Series title. Moffitt was between two and three seconds ahead, until Dawson Cram’s No. 41car spun out to force a caution flag and eventual restart.
That’s when Creed’s crew chief, Jeff Stankiewicz, called for a pit stop to change tires, figuring the team had nothing to lose. Off the restart and back on the track with fresh equipment, Creed made the right moves to get out in front and hold on for two added laps to win his first Truck Series championship.
“When it comes to restarts, I wouldn’t want anyone other than Sheldon Creed driving that thing, because he gets after it. He’s a maniac on restarts,” Stankiewicz said. “To see that caution flag come out was a relief for us.”
It was heartbreak for Moffitt, the only one of the four championship finalists with a Truck Series title from 2018. Moffitt won the second stage of the race and was in control until the 148th lap, then didn’t come in for a pit stop when Creed and Smith did.
“Race strategy has been a downfall for us all year for sure,” said Moffitt, who overcame two broken thigh bones from a March accident to make the championship field. “It’s frustrating to lose a championship because of it.
It was also disappointment for finalist Grant Enfinger, who despite holding the pole to start the race dropped quickly into fourth place, fell as far back as 12th and roared his way to second place before the final restart, only to come up short.
Series Rookie of the Year Zane Smith, the fourth of the four championship finalists, won the first stage of 45 laps. He fell back in the second and third stage until the last restart, then made a late charge at Creed but finished in second place, 0.62 seconds behind Creed.
“I wasn’t close enough to get to his bumper or try to make a pass,” Smith said.
Enfinger’s start to the race hurt him. Smith moved quickly out in front in the first lap as Enfinger got caught on the outside and allowed the other three contenders to pass him.
Smith and the No. 21 Chevrolet looked strong in winning the first stage of 45 laps, leading the entire stage. The other three finalists rounded out the top four in the stage – Creed, Moffitt and Enfinger in that order.
Halfway through the race at lap 75, Moffitt took advantage of some traffic from lapped trucks and grabbed the lead for the first time. Smith, running in third place for much of the second stage, passed Creed to move into second place in the 78th lap.
Moffitt won the second 45-lap stage, setting up a 60-lap final stage of the race with the three GMS Racing teammates in the top three.
Enfinger opted for a pit stop early in the final stage to get new tires, and had to restart outside of the top 10 in hopes of gaining ground with fresh equipment. It paid off as he surged into the top five with still plenty of laps to go.
The late caution flag came up, and inside his No. 23 Chevrolet, a mic-ed up Moffitt muttered his displeasure.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” he said. Moffitt went on to finish 10th and Enfinger in 13th place.
It was Creed, who had four previous wins in the Truck Series this season, who got the checkered flag and celebrated on the track with family in front of a small crowd.
“I pride myself on my restarts week in and week out,” Creed said. “Just nailed a restart right there.”