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Richard Childress was unhappy with Sheldon Creed and Austin Hill's driving during the NASCAR Xfinity Series elimination race in the Round of 8. After both drivers from the Chevrolet-affiliated team let a Championship 4 spot slip away, there was bound to be some turmoil and tension between the team.
Sheldon Creed and Austin Hill ended up beating and banging during the final two laps of the Dead On Tools 200. This saw JR Motorsports' Justin Allgaier take advantage of the inside line at Martinsville Speedway. While Creed managed to finish in P2, Hill was seen crashing on the final lap in an intense finish to the race.
While many fans as well as experts from the fraternity backed Creed's aggressive yet fair approach, Richard Childress did not seem to look at it the same way. He spoke about how the #2 Chevrolet Camaro driver raced at the 0.5-mile-long short track and told NBC Sports:
"“I’ve had drivers drive for me before but nobody as stupid as Sheldon Creed, you don’t do that as a team player. What else do you want me to tell you?”
Such public criticism of a team's driver by the owner is rare in the sport. However, a lot has been said online and offline about the nature of the environment at the Welcome, North Carolina-based racing outfit.
"They clearly like him": Sheldon Creed on driver favoritism at Richard Childress Racing
Subtly hinting at how Richard Childress Racing, the team owner, and high-level employees are geared towards Austin Hill, Sheldon Creed made sure to put his point across.
He elaborated in a post-race interview with Bob Pockrass and said:
"They clearly like him. He's done a really good job and he's won four races, I'm so happy to be going where I'm going. Just proud of my guys for giving me a car capable today. To be there at the end and have a shot at that, this place always ends in dirty racing."
Austin Hill also managed to leak information about Sheldon Creed's future plans in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The #2 Chevrolet Camaro driver according to Hill will be seen switching over to Toyota-manufactured cars at Joe Gibbs Racing from the 2024 season onwards.
Meanwhile, the Xfinity Series heads to Phoenix Raceway next weekend to crown a champion in the second-tier nationwide series of the sport.
