For someone who never caught a break with a win out of sight, finishing P2 15 times, Atalanta did not hesitate to turn the tide in Sheldon Creed’s favor. From the drop of the green, the tone was set early at the Bennett Transportation & Logistics 250 as the Haas Factory drivers surged to the front on the first lap. That momentum carried him to his first-ever Xfinity win, as he managed to dodge wrecks, and the 28-year-old could not help but wear his heart on his sleeve.

“Incredible. Just. Yeah, I’ve been a loser the last few years and just kept showing up,” Creed said. “Not how you draw it up when you win a Truck championship and win races and go to Xfinity and go four years winless. So incredible.”

Sam Mayer led the opening lap with Creed tucked in behind, and while the pack shuffled constantly through the opening stage, the No. 00 driver was never far from contention. Pit cycles, lane changes, and aggressive drafting kept the field in flux, but Creed consistently kept himself in striking distance.

The middle portion of the race was anything but calm. The lap 105 crash involving Corey Day, Carson Kvapil, and Justin Allgaier shook up the running order, and multiple cautions, including a massive pileup triggered by a blown tire on lap 141, reset the field time and again.

Through it all, Creed remained poised. He traded the lead with Austin Hill, Jesse Love, and Ross Chastain, lining up both on the inside and outside lines as the intensity ramped up.

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That charge came at exactly the right moment. On lap 161, he drove deep into turns three and four to grab the lead from Chastain, but the white flag lap turned chaotic. Entering the final set of corners on lap 162, Chastain tagged Hill, disrupting both their momentum.

Creed, running just behind and reading the situation perfectly, seized the opening and slipped past the battling leaders to steal the win, and now the 28-year-old driver can let out a breath of relief.

And the California native knows exactly how he is going to be celebrating his win.

“Finally, a winner and maybe I don’t know if one win will kind of revive my career, but maybe if I win a few this year it will. And. Probably gonna drink a ton of Coors Lights tonight,” he said.

After 138 series starts, the victory marked his first career triumph, a breakthrough forged not just in speed but in patience, survival, and capitalizing when it mattered most. But as much as it was a standout day for Creed, the last lap was particularly harrowing for Austin Hill and Ross Chastain. 

Austin Hill is left livid against Ross Chastain

It is safe to assume that things may take a little time to cool off between Austin Hill and Ross Chastain. The flashpoint came in the closing laps after a red flag reset the field with under 10 to go. On lap 158, Ross Chastain cleared for the lead on the backstretch with Austin Hill and Sheldon Creed lined up behind him in separate lanes.

The battle intensified on lap 161. Chastain stayed aggressive on entry and tagged the rear of Hill’s No. 21 car. Hill snapped sideways but somehow kept off the wall in a jaw-dropping save, both cars losing momentum in the process.

“The save was insane. I thought that I was gonna be head-on in the fence there, but into the race you have to throw the ball and 32 drove through me. He has nothing to lose. He’s not racing for points or anything, and I don’t know if I’m gonna race him again later on but that’s Ross for you,” Hill said post-race.

And of course, with Creed capitalizing on the stalled momentum of both drivers, Austin Hill was left furious as Ross Chastain finished fifth in the race.