Sheldon Creed’s experience racing on dirt paid off Sunday in the Herr’s Potato Chips 100 at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. The 19-year-old earned a fourth-place finish in his debut with Mason Mitchell Motorsports (MMM) piloting the No. 78 United Rentals Chevrolet.
Creed restarted in the second position on the afternoon’s final restart. Unfortunately, the outside line was not the line to be in and Creed fell back to seventh. The young driver raced like a veteran the last 15 laps turning laps quicker than the leader and working his way back inside the top-five to a fourth-place finish.
“We had a great racecar all day long, “Creed stated after the 100-lap event. “Unfortunately, we got stuck on the outside line for a majority of the restarts and if you couldn’t get to the bottom right away you lost spots. We needed the race to go green. We had way too many cautions that never allowed for a lot of green flag racing. I can’t wait to be back with these MMM guys at DuQuoin. They worked hard all day and made great adjustments to our car. We will have a great shot to win at DuQuoin”
Creed started the 100-lap event from the fourth position. When the green flag waved, Creed made a three-wide move to pass two cars in the first corner. Creed took the third position right before the first caution of the event waved at lap three.
When the race resumed Creed quickly moved into the runner-up position passing eventual winner Grant Enfinger at lap eight.
The first half of the 100-lap event was marred by the yellow flag as it waved four times. Creed made his first and only pit-stop before halfway taking four General Tires and a minor chassis adjustment. The No. 78 team had a great stop as Creed came off pit-road second but six drivers stayed out under the yellow flag. It only took Creed one lap has he passed four cars to move back into the top-five in the fourth position. The California native raced as high as second and proved to be a contender for the win.
On the days, final restart with 18 laps to go. Creed restarted from the second position but was stuck on the outside losing valuable track position and sliding back to seventh. He spent the next 15 laps driving his way back to the front of the field and working his way back inside the top-five earning a fourth-place finish as the checkered flag waved.
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