Sheldon Creed held John Hunter Nemechek and Stewart Friesen back late to win the In It To Win it 200 at Darlington Raceway in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The win is Creed’s third of the season and his second in as many races.
“It feels so good to play in a row,” said Creed in his front stretch interview with Josh Sims of FOX Sports. “I just want to remember it more this year and have more fun with it. [I want] Putting pressure on others. I had nothing to lose when I came in. ”
With his win at WWT Raceway two weeks ago, Creed became the only driver to make it through to round of 8 in the Camping World Truck Series playoffs. However, a second place for Nemechek in Darlington was enough to secure the second ticket to round 8.
“[We needed] clean air, ”Nemechek told FOX Sports’ Jamie Little. “We had a really good truck all day, the Mobil 1 Toyota Tundra was fast right from the start … .. that’s how it is, at least we fought our way into the second lap.”
The third-placed Stewart Friesen just lacked the time. He pitted during a late warning and was within a second of the lead. Late lap traffic was an obstacle for the 38-year-old, but he was content with his best result of the season.
“We fought a loose condition all day,” Friesen said to Little. “We lost the sequence and got a couple of tires there, [and] I almost hit you, but somehow got caught in traffic. ”
Todd Gilliland finished eighth in the top 10 in the last nine races, while Parker Kligerman finished fifth for the second time this season. Kligerman will now take his TV role on NBC Sports for the Cup Series race later tonight.
Chandler Smith and Zane Smith finished the race in seventh and ninth respectively. However, due to poor placements on the WWT Raceway, both drivers sit below the playoff intersection. Austin Hill, who finished 12th on Sunday, currently holds the final playoff spot.
Notably, Ben Rhodes finished 35th but still has a 15-point cushion ahead of the final race of the round of 10. He suffered damage at several points during the race and retracted seven laps. Rhodes had finished 1st and 2nd in his two previous starts at Darlington and started the race as the favorite to win.
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returns to Bristol Motor Speedway on Thursday, September 16. The race should start at 9 p.m. on FS1.
You can find the full results HERE.
