Dale Earnhardt Jr. insists Sheldon Creed didn’t do anything ‘obviously blatant’ at Martinsville after Richard Childress’ stupidest driver ever claim
Dale Jr’s driver, Justin Allgaier, benefited the most from the incident.
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Richard Childress, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Sheldon Creed (Via IMAGO)
NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. has come to Sheldon Creed’s defense after criticism from Richard Childress over the Martinsville clash between the RCR teammates. The clash between Creed and his RCR teammate Austin Hill in the final lap of the Xfinity Series Round of Eight elimination race at Martinsville cost the team a spot in the finale.
Creed entered the race in a must-win situation, while Hill still had the opportunity to get into the last four on points. But at the final restart, both had no option but to go for the win. On the last lap, Creed moved Hill and took the lead on turn three, but at turn four, the No:2 car missed the corner a bit, and Hill slammed onto his back. This incident allowed Justin Allgaier to snatch the win.
The whole RCR team was critical of Creed post-race. Team owner Richard Childress even called him the stupidest driver ever in RCR history. In his podcast, Dale Jr. pointed out that Creed didn’t do anything blatantly wrong in the situation and said it was just aggressive short-track racing among the teammates.
He allowed Austin a chance to race. He didn’t send him into the wall. He didn’t knock him back to sixth. He just got him up off the bottom. Both of those guys did a little bit of that all night. I didn’t see anything just obviously blatant, or ‘Man, that’s totally uncalled for,’ I didn’t see really any of that. But you’re not going to have that go on and not be frustrated either way.
Dale Jr. said, as reported by On3.com.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. explains the reason for the incident
The unfortunate incident between Hill and Creed could’ve been avoided if they behaved a bit like teammates and showed loyalty. But Xfinity Series and Truck series aren’t a place for such emotions. Young drivers are fighting it out on the track, and establishing themselves is the priority over loyalty to their teammates with the same dream, according to Junior
We’ve got young guys out there, trying to make a name for themselves. They’re not veterans. They’re not old teammates that have been buddies for decades. They’re young guys, that don’t really know each other that well, and they don’t have a loyalty to each other. That’s what the Xfinity Series and Truck Series are about.
Junior, like Childres, is a team owner, and the Creed-Hill situation is something he never wants to see occur within his team. He admitted in the podcast that it isn’t a situation he envies. Ironicalyr Dale Jr. benefited the most from the incident because of the clash; JR Motorsports driver Allgaier is in the final four.
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