A Solid Top Ten and Lessons Learned — for Creed in Sonoma

SONOMA, CA, June 28, 2017 (Newswire.com) - Sheldon “The Showstopper” Creed, encountered one of his toughest tests of the season, when he entered the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race at Sonoma Raceway this past weekend. The 12-turn 2.52-mile ribbon of asphalt, known as Sonoma Raceway, features high speeds, blind corners, off-camber corners, and relentless elevation changes. In other words, it is one of the most technical and difficult racing circuits to learn in the country.

Creed had never been to Sonoma Raceway before, and had a very steep learning curve ahead of him entering practice on Friday. Fortunately, Creed had a pair of very fast Jefferson Pitts Racing stablemates to learn from; Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series star, Kevin Harvick and road-racing hot shoe, Will Rodgers.

Creed spent the first practice learning the track and getting comfortable in the #55 AM Ortega Construction/United Rentals Ford Fusion, and ended up a respectable 11th out of 32 cars in the session. Creed had felt the car was overly loose in practice and the JPR crew made some changes to tighten up the car for qualifying. Perhaps the crew went too far, because Creed struggled to get the car to turn during the short two-lap qualifying run, and ended up a disappointing 15th on the grid. Clearly, he had a long afternoon of racing ahead of him.

Jerry Pitts and the JPR crew made some more changes to Creed’s car for the race and at the drop of the green flag, he was able to set a good pace and soon began overtaking cars. Eventually, he found himself in 5th place, just one place behind Kevin Harvick, and just before the mid-race break for fuel that is standard in NASCAR K&N Pro Series races. Creed would fall back one place before the break, but felt like he had a car that could challenge for a top-5 finish.

Unfortunately, when the race restarted and Creed’s tires continued to wear, the overly tight condition returned. He already lost a couple of positions, before getting heavy contact from behind by the #99 car which resulted in both cars veering off-the-track and losing several more positions. In the remaining laps, Creed would fight back from 12th place to a respectable 9th position by the finish; certainly not what he wanted. All-in-all, a great learning experience and another box ticked in his preparation for the next stage of his career. It was a fantastic day for the Jefferson Pitts Racing team as Creed’s teammates Kevin Harvick and Will Rodgers fought it out for the win, with veteran Harvick edging out K&N rookie Rodgers by just a half-second at the line.

Sheldon Creed on Sonoma:

“Sonoma was fun, but also frustrating because I feel like we should have had a much better finish than 9th, since we were up in the top 5 at one point. I think we probably missed the setup a little and the car just got way too tight after halfway, and then we got wrecked by the #99. He came over and apologized after, so it’s all good. The track was super fun, with some really fast sections and some really technical sections and it was really slick, which should have worked to my advantage, but it just didn’t work out this time. At least JPR got a 1-2 finish with Kevin Harvick and Will Rodgers. I just wish I was up there with them.”

Creed’s next race will be the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards, Fans With Benefits 150 on July 8 at Iowa Speedway, where he will be back in the popular #12 Davey Allison throwback car for MDM Motorsports.

 

About Sheldon Creed:

Sheldon Creed, nicknamed “The Showstopper” began racing BMX at age 3 and won 2 motocross championships at age 6. He has won at least one championship every year since 2008.

Career Highlights:

• 25 Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series 1st Place Finishes
• 5 Championship Off Road Racing Series 1st Place Finishes
• 2015 – X-Games Gold Medalist in Stadium Super Trucks
• 2015 & 2016 Speed Energy Stadium Super Trucks Champion
• 2016 - NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, ARCA Series, & world-famous Dakar Rally
• 2017 - Competing in the ARCA Series, NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and K&N Pro Series West, NASCAR Xfinity Series, Trans-Am Series, and Stadium Super Trucks Series

Media Contact: Brian Bonner       
Email: [email protected] 
Ph: (978) 361-5295

Source: MyNetworkOne on behalf of Sheldon Creed Racing