Sheldon Creed has been eager to win his second O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race, but he might be a little too desperate for it earlier at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. For Joe Gibbs Racing, this seemed to be one decent race after a tough start to the season. But everything turned for it and its No. 54 driver Taylor Gray with one little (and unnecessary) push from Creed, which even earned him the “F—— loser” remark from his competitor. But as the heat from the race settled down, Creed was rather apologetic.

Sheldon Creed’s apology to Joe Gibbs’ driver

“I just got into him.” Creed sounded rather defensive, but for Taylor Gray, as he looked back at the controversial incident between the two. Gray seemed to be in a strong position, but with 50 laps to go in the race, Creed seemed eager for a race win, and in an attempt to push Gray, he ended up making contact, sending the latter into the wall.

“I was trying to pack some air, so obviously, I didn’t know he was that close to 17. So yeah, I could have cut him more of a break there. And yeah, I did it, so that’s not the way I wanted to race him,” he explained.

Going by his words, Sheldon Creed was only trying to finish the race a little earlier. That would be the case with anyone who just won their first race earlier this season after years of anticipation. Even though his admittance sounded genuine, he was a little too late to discuss the event (although it was right after the race).

Taylor Gray, understandably, was not happy with how the race ended, especially considering the fact that Creed moved into the top five.

“He knew what he was doing, right? He’s ran these cars long enough, and he’s been in the series long enough. He had the mentality to go into (Turn) 3 and wreck me. Obviously, he was pretty good at doing that,” Gray said.

With Gray’s DNF, the struggles for Joe Gibbs Racing continue. However, their Cup Series team is looking for a competitive performance at Las Vegas later today.

Christopher Bell invokes positivity in the JGR garage

Christopher Bell started the weekend strongly for Joe Gibbs as he clinched the pole position with JGR sweeping 1-2-3 positions at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Speaking to the media after the session, he hinted that the team could have a competitive finish in the race.

“It’s a really competitive track for my group and my team. Hopefully, one of these days we’re going to get to victory lane,” Bell said. “It’s a great race track for me, so I enjoy coming out here and competing at Las Vegas.”

Joe Gibbs has been in a difficult position ever since Denny Hamlin missed his title shot at Phoenix Raceway in 2025 against Rick Hendrick’s Kyle Larson. Moreover, only two teams have won races so far in the Cup season, but Bell’s charisma on the track seems to invoke positive energy for the team.

Moreover, JGR dominated the qualifying, as he packed the front row with Hamlin, and Ty Gibbs will give Bubba Wallace some company on the second row. While the latter has also been rather competitive so far this year, it is tough to say if he will be able to battle against the JGR drivers initially. All in all, this race could be a redemption for JGR after the unfortunate NOAPS event.