No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota GR Supra News and Notes:
CREED AT TALLADEGA: Sheldon Creed has made three career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Talladega Superspeedway, earning one top-five, one top-10, an average finish of 12.7 and 14 laps led since making his first series start at the track in the spring of 2022. Creed’s best run came in last year’s race, 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 3.0, 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. Creed also has three NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series starts at Talladega, where he has one pole and a best finish of ninth.
TEXAS RECAP: Texas started out promising as Creed and the No. 18 GR Supra showed strong long run speed. Following an 11th place finish in stage one and a 12th place result in stage two, Creed came alive early on in the final stage as he worked his way up to as high as sixth-place as the laps wound down. Unfortunately, the team committed a safety violation on Creed’s final pit stop, forcing him to serve a pass- through penalty under green, which left him one lap down. Despite working his way back on the lead lap, Creed was then involved in the lap 183 caution, and while the team was able to make repairs, Creed could only work his way back up to 19th before the checkered flag waved.
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 five Xfinity Series victories, 18 top-fives, 28 top-10s, 389 laps led, and five poles in 72 combined starts at Talladega Superspeedway. Mike McLaughlin, Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, and Elliott Sadler have each taken Joe Gibbs Racing to victory lane once at NASCAR’s largest oval, with the most recent win coming with Sadler in 2014.
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, April 20th at 4:00 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN Radio, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.Sheldon Creed, Driver of the No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota GR Supra:
“You started off the year with a pair of top-fives in speedway races. How does that help your confidence heading into Talladega?”
“It’s something to be optimistic about, for sure. This style of racing is so unpredictable so it’s hard to count on anything going into the weekend, but the strong runs we had at Daytona and Atlanta are good indications of what we are capable of with the speedway package. The name of the game is staying out of trouble and giving ourselves a shot at the end, so I think if we can manage that part, I like our chances of having a strong run this weekend at Talladega.
JGR PR
