No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Toyota GR Supra News and Notes:
- CREED AT WATKINS GLEN: Sheldon Creed heads to Watkins Glen International for the Mission 200 at the Glen this weekend with a chance to lock himself in the playoffs via points. The Glen has been good to Creed in his two prior Xfinity Series starts there, as he has one top-five, two top-10s and an impressive average finish of 5.0. Most notably, Creed finished second in the race last year, as he lost the lead in overtime to Sam Mayer after hitting a part of the track that had been treated for oil in the caution prior. The track was still slick and sent him out of the groove, leading to his chances at a win slipping away once again. With a strong run this weekend and no new winners, Creed is in a prime position to secure his 2024 playoff bid this weekend.
- ATLANTA RECAP: Creed’s day was marred by issues on pit road, which led to a result that was not indicative of the speed the team showed throughout the race. After starting fifth, Creed kept with the lead pack and scored a fourth-place finish. Creed ended up falling back to 11th for stage two, but it was not until the final stage that trouble arose. Creed started the final stage with an uncontrolled tire penalty during pit stops, and after working himself back up to the top-20, he had to pit for a cut tire under green following contact with another car. While servicing the cut tire, Creed received a pass-through penalty for having a crew member over the wall too soon, which left him three laps down late in the race. Creed ultimately finished 25th on the day.
- TOP FIVE LEADER: Despite not scoring a top-five in Atlanta, Creed maintained his position as the leader for top-five finishes in the Xfinity Series with 11.
- STUCK ON SILVER: Creed’s second-place finish at Michigan marked his 11th career second-place finish in the Xfinity Series. The most recent runner-up performance placed Creed in sole possession of the NXS record for second-place finishes without a win. Remarkably, 50% (11/22) of his career top-fives have been second-place results.
- FRIENDS OF JACLYN FOUNDATION: Founded in 2005, the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization with a mission to improve the quality of life for children with pediatric brain tumors and other childhood cancers while raising awareness for said diseases. The Friends of Jaclyn Foundation aims to improve the quality of life for children and their families battling pediatric brain tumors and other childhood cancers by pairing them with local teams, clubs, and community groups. FOJ has currently made over 1000 adoptions and their mission is to continue to raise awareness through our Adopt-A-Child, Safe on the Sidelines, and Guardian Angel Programs.
- ON THE PITBOX: Crew chief Sam McAulay will lead the No. 18 Toyota GR Supra crew this season. Despite his rookie status, McAulay is an established mind at JGR as he joined the organization in 2007 and worked his way up the ranks from intern to lead race engineer for the No. 11 Cup Series entry of Denny Hamlin. Since the start of his tenure on the No. 11 in 2017, McAulay has contributed to 25 victories, including three Daytona 500 wins and a Coke 600 win as a crew chief when he filled-in for the suspended Chris Gabehart in 2022.
- JGR AT WATKINS GLEN: Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) drivers have combined for 52 starts at WGI. JGR cars have visited Victory Lane twice with two different drivers – Kyle Busch and Ty Gibbs. In addition to wins, JGR has also scored two poles, 18 top-fives, 27 top-10s, and 327 laps led.
- FOLLOW ALONG: Follow along for updates and a behind-the-scenes look at Creed’s 2024 season.
X: @sheldoncreed I Facebook: Sheldon Creed I Instagram: @Sheldoncreed I Website:sheldoncreedracing.com I YouTube: Sheldon Creed
- RACE INFO: Coverage of this weekend’s Xfinity Series race at Watkins Glen International is scheduled for Saturday, September 14th, at 3:00 p.m. ET on USA Network, MRN Radio, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Sheldon Creed, Driver of the No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Toyota GR Supra:
“You have a chance to lock yourself into the playoffs this weekend. Is that your priority and how does that change your mindset going into this weekend?”
“I’m not sure it changes my approach at all. I mean, we technically had a chance to lock ourselves in with a win for the past 23 weeks. It does make it even more critical that we keep the car clean and stay our of other people’s messes so we can check the playoff box off finally. Beyond that though, I finished second here last year and JGR was really fast here as well, so my goal is still to lock ourselves in with a win this weekend.”
Sheldon Creed’s Stats at Watkins Glen International
| Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 | Poles | Laps Led | Avg. Start | Avg. Finish |
| 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12.0 | 5.0 |
Sheldon Creed’s 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Season Stats
| Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 | Poles | Laps Led | Avg. Start | Avg. Finish |
| 24 | 0 | 11 | 15 | 2 | 80 | 8.8 | 12.9 |
Sheldon Creed’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Career Stats
| Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 | Poles | Laps Led | Avg. Start | Avg. Finish |
| 94 | 0 | 22 | 44 | 3 | 425 | 9.9 | 15.4 |
JGR PR
