Story By: SAM MAHONEY / TOYOTA RACING – TALLADEGA, AL – At the end of another frantic race at Talladega Superspeedway, Sheldon Creed and Chandler Smith claimed top-five finishes in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race, earning the fourth and fifth-place positions, respectively. For Creed, the finish is his 15th top-five of the season, the most in the series, and his fourth in-a-row. The driver of the No. 18 GR Supra kept himself out of trouble throughout the 94 lap-race to put himself in position for a victory, crossing the finish line fourth when the checkered flag flew. Today’s result puts Creed 25 points above the cutline heading to next weekend’s cutoff race.
Smith and his No. 81 GR Supra were at the head of the field most of the day and earned the second-most points during the race (48), which included a Stage 1 win, his seventh of the season. Smith restarted third on the overtime restart and put himself in position to take home the victory. But as typically happens at Talladega, chaos ensued on the final lap and Smith managed to bring home a fifth-place finish. Like Creed, Smith is on a hot streak of late with his fifth consecutive top-five finish and his sixth in the last seven races. He holds a tremendous points advantage going into the cutoff race in Charlotte, 57 points to the good.
Taylor Gray earned points in Stage 1 and was in the heat of the racing action most of the afternoon but was caught up in an incident with 19 laps to go, ending his day with a 33rd-place finish.
The Xfinity Series Playoffs is at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL next Saturday, Oct. 12, concluding the Round of 12. Coverage can be seen on the CW Network at 4 p.m. EST, as well as be heard on PRN and SiriusXM Radio Channel 90.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Talladega Superspeedway
Race 28 of 33 – 94 Miles, 250.04 Laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Sammy Smith*
2nd, Ryan Sieg*
3rd, Riley Herbst*
4th, SHELDON CREED
5th, CHANDLER SMITH
20th, ARIC ALMIROLA
21st, DEAN THOMPSON
33rd, TAYLOR GRAY
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
SHELDON CREED, No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
Describe how that race unfolded today.
“Yeah, overall, a pretty smooth day for us. Just tried to avoid the chaos and the crashes, and kind of do what we did, get points and finish good. I lined up fourth on the restart and knew we’d have a good shot at it. I was trying to get the No. 8 (Sammy Smith) the best push I could and we kind of got too far away from the rest of the pack and I was trying to block coming to the white flag and just fell back there. To be able to make a few moves that last lap and get myself back into contention. And then, yeah, got spun across the line. Overall, good day. I think we’re plus 25 (points) going into the ROVAL. Hopefully we can just go and have a smooth day and hopefully maybe get our first win next week.”
CHANDLER SMITH, No. 81 Wheelers Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 5th
What was your post-race discussion with Riley Herbst like and how was your race today?
“We were talking about different runs, and this, that and the other. He (Herbst) felt like if I did a certain thing, I would’ve won the race. I don’t know. I couldn’t hear out of my left earbud, could barely hear out of my right. I was just trying to listen to what my spotter, Chris Lambert, was saying on where to go and what not, and also looking in the mirror for where runs were coming from. I felt like I did what I should’ve done but obviously, I could’ve won the race a different way so going to go back and study. I keep losing these dang superspeedway races. I’ve come so close and it’s so frustrating. I want to get one so bad. And this group deserves one that bad. I had a really fast No. 81 Wheelers GR Supra today. It was as fast as Xfinity internet today. Just stinks that I’m sitting here complaining. Sammy (Smith)’s the points leader now, I guess, since he advanced, but when you look at raw points, we’re the point leader and plus, whatever (in the standings) with a good buffer. But I’m still bummed and upset about today’s finish but could’ve been worse and super grateful for everybody. Joe Gibbs Racing and the good Lord for blessing me with such a great group of people around me this season.”
TAYLOR GRAY, No. 19 Operation 300 Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 33rd
What did you see in that incident?
“Yeah, it looked like the No. 26 (Dean Thompson) got into the No. 97 (Shane Van Gisbergen), came off the bottom a little bit. The No. 26 tried to be aggressive and get to his left side and gave him a bad push, put him on the apron, he got free and (pause), I don’t know who was behind the No. 26, but he just got the No. 26 free and started all of that. It stinks, obviously. We had a pretty fast Joe Gibbs Racing GR Supra. Just guys racing really aggressively with 20 (laps) or so to go. Long ways left and that’s kind of the results at these places.”