Sheldon Creed was yet again in position to win a NASCAR Xfinity Series race. This time, at his favorite race track on Saturday — Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver tracked down teammate Christopher Bell in the closing laps, then stole the lead away with nine laps to go.
Creed scampered away to an over one-second lead. However, his gap was lost as a caution flag with five laps to go erased a Saturday cruise to victory lane.
Despite entering the pits with the lead, Creed lost two positions and was forced to restart third in overtime.
He was unable to challenge and settled for third. When asked after the race if he could believe he’d lost another potential win, he answered with a firm, “No.”
“I lost one the same way a few years ago here,” Creed said. “Just this has always been a really good place for me. I’ve always loved racing here. Just, man, I don’t know what to do to be any better than that.
“I felt like I put in one of my best performances today. I love my pit crew, and they do a great job for us. I can’t blame that on them, we just got beat on pit road today so bummer.”
His bummer of a day, however, does have a silver lining.
Creed’s third-place finish was his fourth top-five finish in the last five races.
While not a victory, Creed is hitting positive strides as the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs loom with three races remaining in the regular season.
Following Darlington, Creed is ninth on the playoff grid, 109 points above the cutline.