February 21, 2026 | By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service

Sheldon Creed earns first NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series victory at Atlanta

HAMPTON, Ga.—Incredible. That’s how Sheldon Creed described his first career victory in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and that’s likely how anyone who watched the Bennett Transportation and Logistics 250 would describe the final dramatic run to the checkered flag Saturday evening at Atlanta’s EchoPark Speedway.

While racing hard for the win on the final lap, the Chevrolets of five-time Atlanta race winner Austin Hill and NASCAR Cup Series full-timer Ross Chastain collided while running first and second clearing the way for the 28-year-old Californian Creed to emerge from his third place position just behind. Taking advantage of the opportunity Creed raced his No. 00 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet cleanly through the incident coming out of the last turn in front to earn his first career trophy in the series after setting a series record with 15 runner-up finishes.

“Incredible,’’ a smiling Creed said after accepting his first series checkered flag from the flagman after the race. “It worked out. Finally a winner.

“Obviously had a lot of good runs, but never finished it up, never won,’’ he said after hoisting his trophy in Victory Lane – his voice a little softer after screaming with emotion on the cool down lap and later after celebrating with his team.

“To finally do that, after it looked like another second place for awhile coming off of [turn] two, it just all worked out for us tonight.”

It was a fitting ending to an action-packed race that featured 11 leaders and a record 24 lead changes on the 1.5-mile Atlanta high banks with Creed ultimately besting Viking Motorsports’ Parker Retzlaff by .309-second. Former Atlanta winner, AM Racing’s Nick Sanchez finished third, his third top-five finish in as many starts at the track. Hendrick Motorsports’ Corey Day was fourth with Hill’s Richard Childress Racing teammate Jesse Love rounding out the top-five.

Chastain was able to recover from the contact with Hill to finish sixth in the No. 32 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet and after watching a replay post-race explained there was no intent to spin Hill. He was just going for the win.

“No excuse, I turned him okay, for sure,’’ Chastain said of the late race contact with Hill. “And I hate that I did that to another Chevy but I’m glad Sheldon was there to pick it up. …I don’t want to spin these guys I’m not trying to crash coming to the checkered. But to get the run down the back, I did not execute it very well, that’s for sure.”

A two-time defending winner of this race, Hill, finished 12th after a dramatic day of racing at his home track.

“We did everything right to get into the lead,’’ said Hill, who started an uncharacteristic 20th in the 38-car field but ended up taking the point for the first time on lap 105 and ultimately leading the most laps on the day (34 of the 163).

“Coming off of Turn Two, I let it drag back a little bit to not get too far out but kind of got a little further out than I would have liked. I knew I was going to have to throw a block [on Chastain] and was trying to get squared up but it looked like he just drove into my left rear on purpose.

“I don’t know. We’re going for the win so not going to say, shoulda done this or shoulda done that.’’

Creed’s Haas Factory Team teammate Sam Mayer finished seventh, followed by JR Motorsports’ rookie Rajah Caruth, who led a career best 22 laps. Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Taylor Gray and Brandon Jones rounded out the top-10.

After so many runner-up finishes and victory lane near-misses, even Creed’s competitors made a point to congratulate him on finally scoring that elusive first win. He is an accomplished driver, having claimed the 2020 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship with a five-win season. And as his 15 runner-up showings would indicate, Creed has consistently been a front-runner in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.

“It just wears on you to not to win,’’ Creed said, conceding he was feeling both a huge sense of relief and a huge surge of happiness for his work. “I don’t think one win is going to change things a whole lot but I think a few might.  I might get back on the radar for Cup, and obviously I’d love that. … to get one of the way is great but I want to win more.’’

“It’s been four years since I stood in Victory Lane and you miss that feeling that’s why you keep working on it,’’ he added.

Even with his 12th place, Hill – who won the Daytona season-opener – holds the championship lead by 22 points over Caruth.

The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series moves to Austin, Texas next week for the first road course test of the season in the Focused Health 250 at the Circuit of the Americas (3 p.m. ET, CW, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Connor Zilisch won the race last year and the NASCAR Cup Series rookie will try to defend his trophy, driving the JR Motorsports No. 1 Chevrolet.


NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Race – Bennett Transportation & Logistics 250
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Hampton, Georgia

Saturday, February 21, 2026

Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Pos Status Tms Laps
1 4 00 Sheldon Creed Road Ranger Chevrolet 163 6 9 62 Running 6 17
2 23 99 Parker Retzlaff KYRO Whisky Chevrolet 163 3 8 46 Running
3 28 25 Nick Sanchez Paynuity/Travel Curious Ford 163 8 37 Running
4 9 17 Corey Day HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 163 4 40 Running
5 10 2 Jesse Love Samsara Chevrolet 163 1 10 43 Running 2 31
6 30 32 Ross Chastain(i) Protect Your Melon Chevrolet 163 10 0 Running 2 22
7 1 41 Sam Mayer Audibel Chevrolet 163 30 Running 3 23
8 6 88 Rajah Caruth HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 163 2 1 48 Running 3 22
9 3 54 Taylor Gray Operation 300 Toyota 163 4 35 Running 2 2
10 15 20 Brandon Jones Menards/Watts Toyota 163 5 33 Running
11 17 26 Dean Thompson Thompson Pipe Group Toyota 163 26 Running
12 20 21 Austin Hill Bennett Transportation Chevrolet 163 7 29 Running 3 34
13 14 48 Patrick Staropoli # Syfovre Chevrolet 163 24 Running
14 29 0 Garrett Smithley SLCC Chevrolet 163 23 Running
15 35 07 Josh Bilicki Flex Power Chevrolet 163 22 Running
16 25 27 Jeb Burton Sprayway Chevrolet 163 22 Running
17 37 55 Chad Finchum(i) Alkamind Get Off Your Acid Chevrolet 163 0 Running
18 38 42 Nick Leitz(i) Precision Measurements Inc Chevrolet 163 0 Running
19 33 44 Brennan Poole Black's Island Chevrolet 163 18 Running
20 27 5 Luke Fenhaus # Victory Custom Trailers Ford 162 17 Running
21 31 87 Austin Green 3Dimensional.com Chevrolet 162 16 Running
22 26 02 Ryan Ellis Pella Windows & Doors Chevrolet 161 15 Running
23 5 18 William Sawalich Soundgear Toyota 161 14 Running 1 5
24 7 19 Giovanni Ruggiero(i) First Auto Group Toyota 160 0 Running
25 24 96 Anthony Alfredo VaVia Chevrolet 160 12 Running
26 19 91 Mason Maggio FreeRent.org Chevrolet 155 11 Engine
27 21 92 Josh Williams Call811.com Chevrolet 151 10 Accident
28 34 45 Lavar Scott # Urban Affairs Coalition Chevrolet 150 9 Accident 1 1
29 32 51 Jeremy Clements All South Electrical/One Stop Chevrolet 149 9 10 Running
30 8 8 Sammy Smith Pilot Chevrolet 141 6 12 Accident
31 36 30 Cody Ware(i) Jacob Companies Chevrolet 120 0 Suspension
32 2 1 Carson Kvapil Arby's Chevrolet 106 7 3 17 Accident 1 5
33 11 7 Justin Allgaier Registix Chevrolet 106 5 2 19 Accident 1 1
34 16 35 Joey Gase Stripes TV Chevrolet 39 3 Engine
35 13 24 Harrison Burton AIRBOX Toyota 8 2 DVP
36 22 31 Blaine Perkins WERNER Chevrolet 6 1 DVP
37 12 39 Ryan Sieg SciAps/SA Recycling Chevrolet 4 1 Accident
38 18 28 Kyle Sieg Big House Construction Chevrolet 4 1 Accident

Average Speed of Race Winner:  105.508 mph.

Time of Race:  2 Hrs, 22 Mins, 45 Secs. Margin of Victory:  0.309 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  7 for 46 laps.

Lead Changes:  24 among 11 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   S. Mayer 1-12;T. Gray 13;S. Mayer 14;T. Gray 15;S. Mayer 16-25;S. Creed 26-28;R. Caruth 29-30;J. Love 31-53;S. Creed 54;J. Love 55-62;S. Creed 63-71;J. Allgaier 72;R. Caruth 73-76;S. Creed 77;R. Caruth 78-93;L. Scott # 94;W. Sawalich 95-99;C. Kvapil 100-104;A. Hill 105-136;S. Creed 137-138;R. Chastain(i) 139-149;A. Hill 150;R. Chastain(i) 151-161;A. Hill 162;S. Creed 163.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Austin Hill 3 times for 34 laps; Jesse Love 2 times for 31 laps; Sam Mayer 3 times for 23 laps; Ross Chastain(i) 2 times for 22 laps; Rajah Caruth 3 times for 22 laps; Sheldon Creed 6 times for 17 laps; Carson Kvapil 1 time for 5 laps; William Sawalich 1 time for 5 laps; Taylor Gray 2 times for 2 laps; Justin Allgaier 1 time for 1 lap; Lavar Scott # 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 2,88,99,54,7,00,1,25,51,32
Stage #2 Top Ten: 88,7,1,17,20,8,21,99,00,2



NASCAR O'RELLY AUTO PARTS SERIES STANDINGS

Points Report

UNOFFICIAL UNOFFICIAL

1. Austin Hill 21 2 0 104 0 0 1 2
2. Rajah Caruth 88 2 6 82 -22 22 0 1
3. Sheldon Creed 00 2 17 80 -24 2 1 0
4. Jesse Love 2 2 0 80 -24 0 0 1
5. Parker Retzlaff 99 2 6 74 -30 6 0 0
6. Justin Allgaier 7 2 -4 69 -35 5 0 0
7. Carson Kvapil 1 2 -4 64 -40 5 0 0
8. Corey Day 17 2 16 50 -54 14 0 0
9. Sammy Smith 8 2 -4 48 -56 2 0 0
10. Ryan Ellis 02 2 0 46 -58 2 0 0
11. Taylor Gray 54 2 15 44 -60 2 0 0
12. Brennan Poole 44 2 1 43 -61 1 0 0
13. Patrick Staropoli # 48 2 5 43 -61 0 0 0
14. Josh Bilicki 07 2 3 42 -62 1 0 0
15. Nick Sanchez 25 2 16 41 -63 1 0 0
16. Brandon Jones 20 2 12 41 -63 0 0 0
17. Anthony Alfredo 96 2 -5 38 -66 3 0 0
18. Blaine Perkins 31 2 -12 37 -67 1 0 0
19. Sam Mayer 41 2 10 36 -68 1 0 0
20. Jeb Burton 27 2 3 36 -68 0 0 0
21. William Sawalich 18 2 -6 36 -68 0 0 0
22. Ryan Sieg 39 2 -15 35 -69 1 0 0
23. Jordan Anderson 1 -14 33 -71 2 0 0
24. Luke Fenhaus # 5 2 -2 31 -73 2 0 0
25. Austin Green 87 2 -4 31 -73 0 0 0