Sheldon Creed Earns First Xfinity Series Pole and Stage Win; Finishes Seventh in the No. 2 Whelen Engineering Chevrolet after Late-Race Contact at Portland International Raceway

James Gilbert Photo

“We had a great Whelen Engineering Chevrolet today at Portland International Raceway. There were three corners that I feel made the difference of how our race ended. I could have led every lap if our No. 2 Camaro was a little better in Turns 6, 7 and 12. I just struggled in those turns and others could really make ground there. I got spun coming to the stage two end. Obviously, going for a stage win, everyone is going to be aggressive. The No. 20 came up and apologized after the race. I got even on the racetrack, so I was fine. We were just racing hard there. At the end of the race on the overtime restart, I wanted to race the No. 7 car straight up for the win. I wasn’t going to wreck him. That’s just not how I want to get my first win. I want to earn it. The No. 48 car ruined our chances of that and he didn’t give us a chance to race for the win. As I was running for third, the No. 1 car ran me off the racetrack coming to the white flag. It’s disappointing to finish seventh after leading a ton of laps, but it was a great day overall. I was happy with the speed of our Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, and I’m happy to get my first Xfinity Series pole. I just need the last few laps to go my way one of these days.”

-Sheldon Creed

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