No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Toyota GR Supra News and Notes:
- CREED AT TALLADEGA: Sheldon Creed has made four career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Talladega Superspeedway, earning one top-five, two top-10s, an average finish of 11.0 and 14 laps led since making his first series start at the track in the spring of 2022. Creed’s best run came last year, as he started second and later tied his career-best finish of second, while leading 11 laps in the process. With an average start of 4.8, Creed has run some fast qualifying laps at NASCAR’s biggest superspeedway and hopes to continue the streak of starting up front with his new No. 18 Toyota GR Supra team on Friday. In the spring race, Creed came from the back of the field to take home a sixth-place finish, which included a late-race rally as he was involved in an overtime caution, only to drive back through the field to secure the top-10 run. Creed also has three NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series starts at Talladega, where he has one pole and a best finish of ninth.
- KANSAS RECAP: Sheldon Creed kicked off his playoff campaign right where he left off in the regular season, as he scored his eighth top-10 in the past nine races. After starting 15th, Creed worked into the top-10 early on and stayed there throughout the day. With a sixth place finish in stage one and a seventh-place finish in stage two, Creed collected critical stage points to bolster his playoff run. Creed ended the day with a fifth-place finish, making him the third Joe Gibbs Racing entry within the top-five.
- PLAYOFFS: Creed jumped from ninth to fifth in the playoff standings after his strong run in Kansas. Creed now enters Talladega 10 points above the cutline.
- TOP FIVE LEADER: Creed’s fifth-place finish in Kansas bolstered his position as the series leader for top-five finishes in the Xfinity Series with 14, which also gives him an impressive 52% top-five rate on the season.
- STUCK ON SILVER: Creed’s second-place finish at Bristol marked his 13th career second-place finish in the Xfinity Series. With his sixth second-place finish of the year, Creed has now overtaken James Hylton for the all-time record across all three series for second-place finishes without a win. Remarkably, 52% (13/25) 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 TALLADEGA: Joe Gibbs Racing has picked up five Xfinity Series wins at Talladega Superspeedway. In 76 combined starts at the 2.66-mile track, the organization has tallied 18 top-five finishes, 29 top-10s, five pole awards, and 394 laps led. Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Mike McLaughlin, Elliott Sadler, and Tony Stewart have all driven JGR entries to victory lane at Talladega.
- 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 Talladega Superspeedway is scheduled for Saturday, October 5th, at 4:00 p.m. ET on The CW, MRN Radio, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Sheldon Creed, Driver of the No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Toyota GR Supra:
“Talladega can be a precarious track to have to race when you’re fighting for playoff positioning. What are your thoughts going into this weekend?”
“Talladega is a huge wildcard in this round, and it has the potential to alter anyone’s season almost instantly. I have to be cognizant of that from green to checkered to make sure we can protect ourselves as much as possible. Ultimately, you can’t fully control your destiny at Talladega, but we have to do everything we can to give ourselves a good points day. Fortunately, I like where we’re at in the standings, so we have the luxury of playing it a bit more conservative than some of the other guys in the playoffs if necessary.”
Sheldon Creed’s Stats at Talladega Superspeedway
| Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 | Poles | Laps Led | Avg. Start | Avg. Finish |
| 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 4.8 | 11.0 |
Sheldon Creed’s 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Season Stats
| Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 | Poles | Laps Led | Avg. Start | Avg. Finish |
| 27 | 0 | 14 | 18 | 2 | 108 | 9.2 | 11.8 |
Sheldon Creed’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Career Stats
| Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 | Poles | Laps Led | Avg. Start | Avg. Finish |
| 97 | 0 | 25 | 47 | 3 | 453 | 10.0 | 15.0 |
JGR PR
