RCR NXS Race Recap: Portland International Raceway

Sheldon Creed Earns First Xfinity Series Pole and Stage Win; Finishes Seventh in the No. 2 Whelen Engineering Chevrolet after Late-Race Contact at Portland International Raceway

 

7th

1st

7th

“We had a great Whelen Engineering Chevrolet today at Portland International Raceway. There were three corners that I feel made the difference of how our race ended. I could have led every lap if our No. 2 Camaro was a little better in Turns 6, 7 and 12. I just struggled in those turns and others could really make ground there. I got spun coming to the stage two end. Obviously, going for a stage win, everyone is going to be aggressive. The No. 20 came up and apologized after the race. I got even on the racetrack, so I was fine. We were just racing hard there. At the end of the race on the overtime restart, I wanted to race the No. 7 car straight up for the win. I wasn’t going to wreck him. That’s just not how I want to get my first win. I want to earn it. The No. 48 car ruined our chances of that and he didn’t give us a chance to race for the win. As I was running for third, the No. 1 car ran me off the racetrack coming to the white flag. It’s disappointing to finish seventh after leading a ton of laps, but it was a great day overall. I was happy with the speed of our Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, and I’m happy to get my first Xfinity Series pole. I just need the last few laps to go my way one of these days.”

 

-Sheldon Creed

Austin Hill and the No. 21 Bennett Transportation and Logistics Chevrolet Team Fight through Handling Issues to Finish in the Fifth Position at Portland International Raceway

 

5th

8th

2nd

“I’m proud of our No. 21 Richard Childress Racing team for working hard throughout the entire race at Portland International Raceway. Our Bennett Transportation and Logistics Chevrolet wasn’t the greatest and we struggled with the handling for most of the day. Every chance we had to work on it, we did. At the beginning of the race, I had zero drive off Turn 7 and lost lateral grip through Turn 12. The handling was all over the place and it was hard to describe what the worst problem was. At the end of these races, you just have to be ready for anything and I was able to capitalize when mistakes were made. You have to keep your head down and fight to the finish. To leave the track with a fifth-place finish after how our race actually went shows the strength of our team. I love road course racing and look forward to having another shot at it next weekend at Sonoma Raceway.”

 

-Austin Hill

RCR PR