Sheldon Creed knows what it’s like to knock on the door. He’s ready to kick the door down.
Creed, who has three runner-up finishes this season, on Friday afternoon raced to the pole for Saturday’s Cabo Wabo 250 at Michigan International Speedway.
With a Toyota driven by Joe Gibbs Racing for the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation, Creed completed a fast lap at 171.645 mph to secure his second pole of 2024 and third in 91 Xfinity starts overall.
In the 38-car race on Saturday, Cole Custer in the Autodesk/Haas Automation Ford (171.119) and Taylor Grey in the Operation 300 Toyota (171.156) will start from the second row, followed by Riley Herbst in the Monster Energy Ford (171.233).
Though he has finished runner-up ten times in the Xfinity Series, including three times this season, Creed, the 2020 Craftsman Truck Series champion, has yet to win.
“We consistently finish in the top five; I think we’ve been extremely steady,” Creed stated. “We’re in the top five, notwithstanding our problems. I’m pretty happy with the direction our team is going.”
In addition to aiming for his first victory in his third full season in the Xfinity Series, 26-year-old Creed is also attempting to secure a berth in the 12-driver Xfinity Playoffs. Eight drivers have secured a spot in the playoffs, with six races remaining in the regular season. Points should determine who finishes in the top four, with Creed being the second of the four drivers within the cutline.
“Out of 20 races, we have nine top-five finishes, but we still need to improve in order to gain more stage points.”
Chandler Smith, Creed’s colleague, qualified fifth on Friday, demonstrating the strength of his qualifying effort. On race day, though, Creed does not anticipate that the teammate factor will be relevant.
Creed remarked, “I feel like it goes both ways.” “Sometimes you can’t trust them when you need them, and other times they come get you. Despite my best efforts, we are all ultimately competing with one another.
Yes, we support one another, but I’m not going to step over the queue and lose ten positions in order to assist, you know.