By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
Sheldon Creed has been a wheelman this ARCA Racing Series season. Driving the No. 28 Toyota for MDM Motorsports, the 20-year-old Californian has driven to six top-five finishes in the opening seven races of 2018 and now sits second in the championship.
Slipping and sliding his way to the front, the dirt racing talent hasn’t lacked aggression early in his stock car racing career. He shocked many with his big save to start the year at Daytona in February and wasn’t shy to make it three-wide on a late restart at Charlotte in May.
“I come from dirt and off-road and it’s completely different on how you pass people and how you drive,” Creed told Kickin’ The Tires. “Car control you take with you, being loose and sideways.
“When you drive harder, you go slower. That’s been a big thing of mine.”
Creed fits the narrative of dirt racer turned stock car driver. After winning gold in the 2015 Summer X Games for Stadium Super Trucks, Creed made his ARCA debut in 2016, finishing seventh. By the end of 2017, Creed had starts in ARCA, K&N Pro Series East, Camping World Truck and the XFINITY Series. A lot of driving in such a short period one could say.
However, one thing that has been missing from Creed’s expanding resume is victory. Through 34 national races across these divisions (including 24 in ARCA) that first win has somehow eluded the racer.
“I have the speed, I just need to put it all together,” he said. “I don’t really get down on myself. Pretty much all the ones we’ve been close to winning have either been from a caution at the end or just getting the job done on a restart.
“It’s all part of the learning process. That’s how I looked at it every weekend; ‘Alright, I figured that out now next time I’ll know what to do.'”
Meanwhile, his MDM teammates have done most of the winning this year with part-timers Harrison Burton and Brandon Jones scoring wins while full-timer Zane Smith leads with championship with three.
For Creed, his relationship with teammates Smith and Chase Purdy has been healthy in 2018. However, it changes some when the green flag drops.
“Maybe we’ll be a little nicer to each other sometimes but we still give each other the bumper,” Creed said. “We’re still racing, you know? You show up with your friends but you don’t bring them on the racetrack.”
With this in mind, Creed knows Smith won’t be going away any time soon through this championship battle in 2018. They sit just 10 points apart entering Friday’s Michigan ARCA 200 at Michigan International Speedway.
“We’re going to see that battle all year long between us and the No. 41,” he said. “Coming into the season we knew that and that’s what its been all year.
“We’re all good friends, that always helps. It’s nice having teammates who are fast, we’d help each other with setups or driving to a certain point. You don’t want to give out all your secrets.”
While Creed fights tooth-and-nail for his first win, he’s preparing for one of the biggest opportunities of his career come July where he will make his third career Truck Series start at Eldora Speedway. Here, his past dirt success and current-day NASCAR prowess will converge behind the wheel of MDM’s No. 99 Chevrolet. It may even lay the groundwork for his 2019 plans in the series.
“The first two years we’ve been fast, just little mistakes took us out,” he said. “This year will be my first year going with a good truck. It’s huge. That’s where we’re trying to go next year full-time so I think it’ll be really cool. We’re going to have a good shot at it.”
(Below is a video capture of our conversation with Sheldon Creed)
