Pit Stop Radio News

No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Toyota GR Supra News and Notes: 

• CREED AT MARTINSVILLE: Sheldon Creed has made five career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Martinsville Speedway highlighted by two runner-up finishes that came in 2022 and most recently, last fall. Across his five starts, Creed has accumulated two top-fives, three top-10s, seven laps led, and an average finish of 13.4. In last year’s fall race in Martinsville, Creed narrowly came up short of his first career victory as he lost in a photo finish to Justin Allgaier.
• HOMESTEAD RECAP: Sheldon Creed started from the front row in Homestead-Miami following his second-place qualifying run and spent most of the day in the top-10. Creed’s strong suit proved to be on the long run, as he would give up track position early in runs and faithfully earn it back as the laps accumulated. While the long run speed kept him in contention, he never had quite enough time to race his way back up to the front, which left him with third and sixth place finishes in the first two stages, respectively. Creed did manage to lead 12 laps in the final stage due to pit strategy, but ultimately came home with a fifth-place finish, earning him his series-leading 16^th top-five on the season. 
• TOP FIVE LEADER: Sheldon Creed’s fifth-place finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway moved him into sole possession for the most top-fives in the Xfinity Series this season with 16.
• TOP TEN LEADER: Creed remains in a tie with Cole Custer for the most top-10s on the year. The two drivers sit atop the season totals with 21 top-10 finishes each. 
• 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, 48% (13/27) 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 MARTINSVILLE: Joe Gibbs Racing has five Xfinity Series wins at Martinsville Speedway. Harrison Burton, Brandon Jones, Ty Gibbs, John Hunter Nemechek, and most recently, Aric Almirola have all taken JGR to victory lane at the famous short track. To go along with the victories, JGR holds four poles, 13 top-fives, 21 top-10s, and 1.224 laps led in 29 combined starts. Impressively, JGR has a 100% lap completion rate across all combined NXS starts at Martinsville (7,390 out of 7,390).
• 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 Martinsville Speedway is scheduled for Saturday, November 2nd, at 4 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: 

“You’ve finished second at Martinsville twice. What more do you need to finish one position better?” 

“We were really strong here in the spring, so I feel good about our speed. It’s going to be hard going up against all the guys trying to win their way to Phoenix, but I think it can play to our advantage if we get up in the mix and deal with the chaos the right way. This track makes for such close racing that I’d anticipate needing a bit of luck to be in the right place at the right time, but I feel confident the guys are going to bring a car that can run up front and that’s the most important thing we’ll need if we’re going to take home a grandfather clock.”

Sheldon Creed’s Stats at Martinsville Speedway:

Sheldon Creed’s 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Season Stats

Sheldon Creed’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Career Stats

JGR PR