Joe Gibbs Racing driver Sheldon Creed was made available to the mediaon Friday after winning the pole for the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Michigan International Speedway.
SHELDON CREED, No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Can you talk about your pole lap today?
“A different package than we are used to. We ran it in Indy, and we also run it at Atlanta. It is our intermediate car, with our restrictor plate engine package. There was a lot to learn at Indy. I feel like we did a really good job over our three-week break of taking what we learned in Indy to make our car better. I felt really good about practice. The car – it’s not like it takes a bunch of talent to drive it here – taped-up, qualifying run. Hats off to my guys for bringing an extremely fast race car.”
Do you feel like this is a place you can finally get your first Xfinity Series win?
“I do. I got my first ARCA win here in 2018, so it has been some time. I feel like we’ve been really consistent. We’ve been top-five a lot, even if we have had issues lately, we run top-five when they come. I feel really good about where our team is headed, and starting from the pole is going to help. Track position was really important in Indy, so I think it is going to be equally important tomorrow, and just need to be there in the end.”
What do you think this package is going to race like tomorrow?
“There is a lot of unknowns. I’m still wondering what we are going to learn. I would say that it will be something like Indy. I think it will be better. I think you will be able to stay closer and more cars will stay grouped up longer. I do think that there will be some that will probably fall back from handling issues, and I think you will have a pack of – it could be three, it could be 10 – that kind of run away. I don’t know what it will be. We are going to learn as we go, but something in between Indy and Atlanta.”
How are your preparing for the rest of the regular season and going into the Playoffs?
“I wouldn’t say Atlanta. It is just weird with the package we bring here now. I think this package races way better – it will race better here, and Indy than it does in Atlanta. We kind of just line-up and stay single file and save fuel. I think I have really good race tracks coming up – Kansas, Bristol, Darlington, Homestead. There is a lot of good race tracks in the Playoffs. On my list, I’ve just trying to be able to get through these speedway style tracks. I think we surprised ourselves today. Our car is really fast for this weekend, which is really nice for not having this one circled. I feel like our team has been consistent. I think we have nine top-fives, but we need to clean up our races a little bit to get better stage points. Just going to work on dialing that in, and then come Playoff time be right where we want to be.”
How much of a teammate element could come into play tomorrow?
“I don’t know. I feel like – it goes both ways. There are times that you need them, and you can’t trust them, and then there is times that they come and pick you up. I always try to work well – I think at the end of the day, we are all racing for each other. We try to help each other, but I don’t know. We help each other, but I’m not going to put myself out of line and lose 10 spots to help, you know?”
Do you see a lot of on-edge pack racing tomorrow?
“I think you are going to see it. I thought at the beginning of practice, everyone gave themselves a little room, right? And then, come the end of practice, everyone was looking for someone to get behind to see what their car did. I was really happy with how my car was in dirty air. I thought there was some others that were strong as well. I think the 39 (Ryan Sieg) really impressed me. He could stay in my tire tracks and wrap the corner with me, so I thought that was impressive, but I think you are going to see pack racing all day.”
There was an 18-mph pole difference from last year to this year. Can you tell the difference?
“Yes. We are almost half the horsepower than we normally are. I would say mid-corner speed is probably close, but at the end of the straightaway, you definitely feel it.”
What stands to you about the 2018 ARCA win here and what did it mean to you?
“I thought the beginning of my ARCA deal. I came straight from off-road and didn’t know anything about asphalt racing. It kind of went similar to how Xfinity has gone – been really fast, and didn’t win up until this point, when we came here that season. It was similar. We were really fast in practice, qualified, I think, second that day, and just had an extremely fast race car to lead a lot of laps. As the 20 or 21-year-old self that I was, I don’t remember exactly how old I was – that was really cool for me, and I felt like – I had finally won at the ARCA level. At that point, I was like here we go, now it is going to take off for me, which, is just not how it all has worked. I don’t know. It was special for me, and I feel like our season really took off from there.”
Do you enjoy this race track?
“Yeah, I’ve always enjoyed this race track. I’ve been fast here in Trucks. I was okay here the last couple of years in Xfinity, but I’ve always enjoyed this place. It will always be something special for me, coming in here, because I did get my first ARCA win here.”
Golin for Toyota Racing PR
