Disagreements between a driver and a team are a common occurrence in NASCAR. But rarely does it ever spill out into the public in the way it has happened at Richard Childress Racing. It all started on Wednesday when RCR sent out a tweet stating that Xfinity Series driver Sheldon Creed will not drive for the next season. A little over a couple hours later, Creed tweeted a statement that stated that he was the one who had left RCR and not the other way around. The entire situation has been a PR nightmare for the Cup Series.

Subject to a lot of criticisms from angry NASCAR fans, issues with the Sheldon Creed update run deep and are layered. After all, Sheldon Creed is one of the most promising drivers in the Xfinity Series and RCR decided to tweet about his departure while he is still competing in the playoffs. Their PR dysfunction has also drawn criticism from an eminent spotter in NASCAR today.

Insider’s comments leave Richard Childress and Sheldon Creed red-faced

From a PR perspective, the whole thing seemed like a dumpster fire from the start. It is never in good taste to send out a tweet about releasing one of your drivers while he is still competing in the playoffs. That move alone drew the ire of a lot of fans. Alternatively, the team could have waited until the end of the season to make the announcement, but that was not the game plan.

Shortly after Richard Childress Racing put out their statement, Sheldon Creed’s revelation left fans wondering who was in the right. The RCR announcement made it sound like they were the ones who decided to end the partnership. But in his statement, Sheldon Creed clearly mentioned that it was his team’s idea to leave RCR at the end of the 2023 Xfinity season. All this drama got under the skin of the eminent NASCAR spotter and co-host on the Door Bumper Clear podcast, Brett Griffin.

The spotter took to social media and absolutely hammered RCR and Sheldon Creed’s handling of the situation, calling it a “damn disaster”.

“It’s a shame teams and drivers have lost their way from a PR perspective. RCR. He ain’t coming back. Creed. We left. What a damn disaster. Act like grown people,” he wrote as he shared the driver’s statement.

This PR nightmare is not the only thing that RCR has been dealing with ever since they made their announcement. Droves of angry NASCAR fans stormed the comments section on Twitter, accusing Richard Childress of favoring his grandson over a driver who is competing in the playoffs.

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Sheldon Creed has been in fine form this season. So far, he has racked up five top-five finishes and secured 13 top-10 positions. Currently competing in the round of 8, the former NASCAR Truck Series champion has a chance of going the distance in the Xfinity Series. So, it is no wonder that fans were livid with the RCR decision since they believe that Childress’ grandson Ty Dillion will replace him. Dillon recently lost his Cup Series seat at Spire Motorsports.

“If this doesn’t have Ty Dillon all over it, then idk what does. I mean come on, he lost his cup ride and his grandpa just kicks out Creed for no reason… you can’t tell me that Creed is worse that Ty Dillon,” wrote another.

There were fans who believed that Sheldon Creed deserved better treatment from Richard Childress Racing. Which he did, in all fairness.
“I agree. Creed deserves better,” commented a fan.
“Really puts a dagger in any hopes of going out with success when even the messaging by both parties can’t be on the same page,” penned another.

And of course, there was that odd fan who drew comparisons to how RCR dealt with the Tyler Reddick situation last year.

“Not the first time RCR has s*** the bed with an announcement. The Reddick announcement last year was straight up shameful 😂,” they wrote.
No matter who joins the vacant seat in the RCR Xfinity Series team, a lot of fans have been angry at how they have dealt with the Sheldon Creed situation. Whoever joins that seat will be under a lot of scrutiny in 2024.

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