{"id":60515,"date":"2026-09-05T21:55:51","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T02:55:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=60515"},"modified":"2026-09-06T12:41:29","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T17:41:29","slug":"sheldon-creed-wins-chase-opener-at-darlington-closes-championship-gap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/05\/sheldon-creed-wins-chase-opener-at-darlington-closes-championship-gap\/","title":{"rendered":"Sheldon Creed wins Chase opener at Darlington, closes championship gap"},"content":{"rendered":"
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DARLINGTON, SOUTH CAROLINA – SEPTEMBER 05: Sheldon Creed, driver of the #00 Ollie’s Chevrolet, celebrates after winning the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Fleetio 200 at Darlington Raceway on September 05, 2026 in Darlington, South Carolina. (Photo by Meg Oliphant\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

DARLINGTON, S.C. \u2013 It took 138 races for Sheldon Creed to finally claim his first career NASCAR O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Series victory at Atlanta this February. On Saturday night he earned his second trophy \u2013 and the timing couldn\u2019t be better with the Californian opening the nine-race Chase for the season championship with a visit to Victory Lane in the Fleetio 200 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.<\/p>\n

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DARLINGTON, SOUTH CAROLINA – SEPTEMBER 05: Sheldon Creed, driver of the #00 Ollie’s Chevrolet, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Fleetio 200 at Darlington Raceway on September 05, 2026 in Darlington, South Carolina. (Photo by Meg Oliphant\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Creed took the lead after his crew delivered a fast pit stop putting his No. 00 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet in front of the field for a restart with 49 laps remaining. The 2020 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champ took it from there and held the lead all the way to the checkered flag, crossing the finish line 2.961-seconds ahead of Hendrick Motorsports rookie Corey Day, who also turned in an impressive effort in the Chase opener.<\/p>\n

Over his career, Creed has been especially good at the at the famed 1.366-mile Darlington oval known as the track \u201cToo Tough to Tame.\u201d His work Saturday was his seventh top-10 finish in nine Darlington starts. He was runner-up here in 2022 and earned two truck race wins here in 2021.<\/p>\n

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DARLINGTON, SOUTH CAROLINA – SEPTEMBER 05: Sheldon Creed, driver of the #00 Ollie’s Chevrolet, celebrates with a burnout as fireworks erupt after winning the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Fleetio 200 at Darlington Raceway on September 05, 2026 in Darlington, South Carolina. (Photo by Meg Oliphant\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve wanted this O\u2019Reilly win here and to finally get that is incredible,\u2019\u2019 Creed, 29, said, acknowledging his team tried a different strategy early in the race that got him close enough to the front to benefit from the clutch pit stop.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt ended up working out well and was able to get second and the pit crew did a great job getting us out in the lead. Was able to control it from there. Was just praying for no cautions. Very thankful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Four of the 12 Chase-eligible drivers finished among the top-five. Joe Gibbs Racing\u2019s Brent Crews was third \u2013 although not eligible for the driver\u2019s title, the finish was crucial as Crews\u2019 No. 19 JGR Toyota is running for the owner\u2019s championship.<\/p>\n

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DARLINGTON, SOUTH CAROLINA – SEPTEMBER 05: Sheldon Creed, driver of the #00 Ollie’s Chevrolet, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Fleetio 200 at Darlington Raceway on September 05, 2026 in Darlington, South Carolina. (Photo by Meg Oliphant\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Chase drivers JR Motorsports\u2019 drivers Sammy Smith and Richard Childress Racing\u2019s Austin Hill were fourth and fifth in their Chevrolets.<\/p>\n

Regular season champion, JR Motorsports\u2019 Justin Allgaier led a race best 60 of the 147 laps and ran among the top-five all night. But his No. 7 Chevrolet hit the wall with 23 laps remaining while he was trying to rally from fourth place. He had to nurse the car home in the closing laps and ultimately finished 17th \u2013 snapping a 10-race streak of top-10 finishes at the track.<\/p>\n

More importantly, the frustrating finish at a track where he\u2019s won four times, cut his lead atop the championship standings from 35 points going into the race to only seven points ahead of Creed with eight races remining to crown the champ.<\/p>\n

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DARLINGTON, SOUTH CAROLINA – SEPTEMBER 05: Sheldon Creed, driver of the #00 Ollie’s Chevrolet, drives during the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Fleetio 200 at Darlington Raceway on September 05, 2026 in Darlington, South Carolina. (Photo by James Gilbert\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Allgaier, a series-best six-race winner this season, had held a massive 229-point advantage in the standings before the points were re-set for this nine-race Chase run to the championship.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur Chevrolet was really good tonight and I felt like when we were out front there we were able to save the tires, really cruise and our pace was really good,\u2019\u2019 said the 2024 series champion Allgaier, who won Stage 1.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then somewhere in the middle of that second stage I started to feel like we weren\u2019t as good as we needed to be and the last part of the race there, we just didn\u2019t have the car that we needed at the end. And obviously, I was just trying to hang on and do everything I could.\u201d<\/p>\n

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DARLINGTON, SOUTH CAROLINA – SEPTEMBER 05: Carson Kvapil, driver of the #1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, leads the field during the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Fleetio 200 at Darlington Raceway on September 05, 2026 in Darlington, South Carolina. (Photo by Meg Oliphant\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Viking Motorsports\u2019 driver Anthony Alfredo finished sixth followed by Chase drivers JGR\u2019s Taylor Gray and Creed\u2019s teammate Sam Mayer. South Carolina native Jeremy Clements, who is not championship-eligible, finished ninth for his fourth top-10 showing of the year.<\/p>\n

Chase driver Brandon Jones rounded out the top-10. Other title-eligible drivers Parker Retzlaff and Rajah Caruth were 21st and 26th, respectively.<\/p>\n

It was a particularly eventful night for Caruth, who is competing for his first series championship. He rallied from being two laps down early in the race and was running well inside the top-10 with 45 laps remaining. But the same fuel pick-up issue that set him back early in the race reappeared with seven laps remaining and forced him to pit the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet in those closing laps.<\/p>\n

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DARLINGTON, SOUTH CAROLINA – SEPTEMBER 05: A general view of racing as the sun sets during the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Fleetio 200 at Darlington Raceway on September 05, 2026 in Darlington, South Carolina. (Photo by Meg Oliphant\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWe were respectable in the first stage before we had a fuel pick-up issue,\u2019\u2019 Caruth said, noting he wasn\u2019t positive what the issue was yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am so proud of all our effort,\u2019\u2019 he continued. \u201cWe could have easily thrown ourselves out of it with an issue or put ourselves in a bad spot working through traffic. But we got all the way up to sixth place and was in good position for a good result.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut that happens. It\u2019s sports. … we\u2019ll be good for next week.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

JR Motorsports\u2019 Kvapil is now third in points, 19 points off Allgaier. Hill is fourth, 36 points back and Day is now 5th, 46 points off the pace.<\/p>\n

\u201cStill a long way to go but need to keep finishing toward the front and scoring every point we can,\u2019\u2019 Creed said.<\/p>\n

The NASCAR O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Series returns to action for race two of the Chase next Saturday in the Nu Way 225 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway (7:30 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Current NASCAR Cup Series rookie Connor Zilisch is the defending race winner.<\/p>\n

Interview: Race winner Sheldon Creed (No. 00 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet) –<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

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NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Race – Fleetio 200<\/b><\/p>\n

Darlington Raceway<\/b><\/p>\n

Darlington, South Carolina<\/b><\/p>\n

Saturday, September 5, 2026<\/b><\/p>\n

                  1. (13)  Sheldon Creed (C), Chevrolet, 147.<\/p>\n

                  2. (14)  Corey Day (C), Chevrolet, 147.<\/p>\n

                  3. (8)  Brent Crews # (C), Toyota, 147.<\/p>\n

                  4. (11)  Sammy Smith (C), Chevrolet, 147.<\/p>\n

                  5. (6)  Austin Hill (C), Chevrolet, 147.<\/p>\n

                  6. (12)  Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 147.<\/p>\n

                  7. (7)  Taylor Gray (C), Toyota, 147.<\/p>\n

                  8. (5)  Sam Mayer (C), Chevrolet, 147.<\/p>\n

                  9. (15)  Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 147.<\/p>\n

                  10. (3)  Brandon Jones (C), Toyota, 147.<\/p>\n

                  11. (17)  Dean Thompson, Toyota, 147.<\/p>\n

                  12. (1)  Carson Kvapil (C), Chevrolet, 147.<\/p>\n

                  13. (4)  Jesse Love (C), Chevrolet, 147.<\/p>\n

                  14. (19)  Nick Sanchez, Chevrolet, 147.<\/p>\n

                  15. (20)  Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 147.<\/p>\n

                  16. (28)  Kyle Sieg, Chevrolet, 147.<\/p>\n

                  17. (2)  Justin Allgaier (C), Chevrolet, 147.<\/p>\n

                  18. (31)  Jake Finch, Chevrolet, 147.<\/p>\n

                  19. (18)  Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 147.<\/p>\n

                  20. (16)  Harrison Burton, Toyota, 147.<\/p>\n

                  21. (10)  Parker Retzlaff (C), Chevrolet, 147.<\/p>\n

                  22. (27)  Blaine Perkins, Chevrolet, 147.<\/p>\n

                  23. (25)  Preston Pardus, Chevrolet, 147.<\/p>\n

                  24. (33)  Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 147.<\/p>\n

                  25. (34)  Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 147.<\/p>\n

                  26. (9)  Rajah Caruth (C), Chevrolet, 145.<\/p>\n

                  27. (26)  Daniel Dye(i), Chevrolet, 145.<\/p>\n

                  28. (29)  Logan Bearden, Chevrolet, 145.<\/p>\n

                  29. (35)  Joey Gase, Chevrolet, Overheating, 119.<\/p>\n

                  30. (22)  William Sawalich, Toyota, Accident, 106.<\/p>\n

                  31. (21)  Lavar Scott #, Chevrolet, Accident, 101.<\/p>\n

                  32. (24)  Patrick Staropoli #, Chevrolet, Engine, 87.<\/p>\n

                  33. (23)  Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, Accident, 73.<\/p>\n

                  34. (37)  Glen Reen, Toyota, Accident, 73.<\/p>\n

                  35. (32)  Mason Maggio, Chevrolet, Accident, 69.<\/p>\n

                  36. (38)  Dawson Cram, Chevrolet, Electrical, 29.<\/p>\n

                  37. (30)  Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, Clutch, 23.<\/p>\n

                  38. (36)  Brad Perez, Ford, Brakes, 21.<\/p>\n

Average Speed of Race Winner:  102.045 mph.<\/p>\n

Time of Race:  1 Hrs, 58 Mins, 4 Secs. Margin of Victory:  2.961 Seconds.<\/p>\n

Caution Flags:  7 for 38 laps.<\/p>\n

Lead Changes:  8 among 7 drivers.<\/p>\n

Lap Leaders:   J. Allgaier (C) 1-35;J. Love (C) 36;B. Jones (C) 37-39;J. Allgaier (C) 40-64;C. Kvapil (C) 65-84;A. Alfredo 85-93;C. Day (C) 94;S. Creed (C) 95-147.<\/p>\n

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Justin Allgaier (C) 2 times for 60 laps; Sheldon Creed (C) 1 time for 53 laps; Carson Kvapil (C) 1 time for 20 laps; Anthony Alfredo 1 time for 9 laps; Brandon Jones (C) 1 time for 3 laps; Corey Day (C) 1 time for 1 lap; Jesse Love (C) 1 time for 1 lap.<\/p>\n

Stage #1 Top Ten: 7,1,21,41,99,96,51,2,87,54<\/p>\n

Stage #2 Top Ten: 96,17,00,8,1,7,21,41,28,39<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service DARLINGTON, S.C. \u2013 It took 138 races for Sheldon Creed to finally claim his first career NASCAR O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Series victory at Atlanta this February. On Saturday night he earned his second trophy \u2013 and the timing couldn\u2019t be better with the Californian opening the nine-race Chase […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":60505,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[651,16,1147,706],"class_list":["post-60515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-darlington-raceway","tag-nascar","tag-nascar-oreilly-auto-parts-series","tag-sheldon-creed"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-fK3","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/GettyImages-2293730804.jpg?fit=1726%2C1151","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60515"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60515\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60523,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60515\/revisions\/60523"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}