No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota GR Supra News and Notes:
CREED AT ATLANTA: Sheldon Creed returns to the No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota GR Supra this weekend as he runs in the Raptor King of Tough 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. In his four starts at the one-and-a-half mile speedway, Creed has taken home one top-10 which came in his first Xfinity Series start at the track in 2022 when he finished ninth. Although the finishes have not shown his performance, Creed has found his way to the front in three of those four starts, leading for a combined total of 55 laps. He also has made three NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series starts prior to the track’s reconfiguration, where he has scored one top-ten. With a second-place finish in his last two speedway starts, Creed has momentum on his side heading into the high banks of Atlanta this weekend.
DAYTONA RECAP: Creed ran securely in the top-10 for most of the race at Daytona, earning himself a sixth-place finish in stage one and a third-place finish at the end of stage two, which earned him a total of thirteen stage points. He continued his strong run throughout the night and put himself in position with an opportunity to win on the final lap before a wreck behind him left him without drafting support. He ultimately finished the night with a second-place finish in his JGR debut.
SILVER STREAK: With a second-place finish on Monday night in Daytona, Creed continued a streak of three consecutive second-place finishes dating back to Martinsville last season. With his most recent one, Creed now has eight second-place finishes in his Xfinity Series career, which makes him the driver with the most second-place finishes without a win amongst active Xfinity Series drivers.
ON THE PITBOX: Crew chief Sam McAulay will lead the No. 18 Toyota GR Supra crew this season. Despite his rookie status, McAulay is an established mind at JGR as he joined the organization in 2007 and worked his way up the ranks from intern to lead race engineer for the No. 11 Cup Series entry of Denny Hamlin. Since the start of his tenure on the No. 11 in 2017, McAulay has contributed to 25 victories, including three Daytona 500 wins and a Coke 600 win as a crew chief when he filled-in for the suspended Chris Gabehart in 2022.
FRIENDS OF JACLYN FOUNDATION: Founded in 2005, the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization with a mission to improve the quality of life for children with pediatric brain tumors and other childhood cancers while raising awareness for said diseases.
JGR AT ATLANTA: Joe Gibbs Racing has earned six Xfinity Series victories at Daytona. In 120 combined starts at the track, the organization has posted 22 top-five finishes, 38 top-10s, eight pole awards, 982 laps led. John Hunter Nemechek, Ty Gibbs, Kyle Busch, and Christopher Bell each raced JGR entries to victory lane in Daytona.
FOLLOW ALONG: Follow along for updates and a behind-the-scenes look at Creed’s 2024 season.
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RACE INFO: Coverage of the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway is scheduled for Saturday, February 24th, at 5 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1, PRN Radio, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Sheldon Creed, Driver of the No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota GR Supra:
“What was it like to finally get on the track with your new team?”
“It was a lot of fun, honestly. With everything being so new, you have your ideas of how you’re going to perform but you never know for sure until you actually get out there. Thankfully, we came out fast, kept the car clean, and ran up front, which is all you can ask for at a track like Daytona. Now that the first one is under our belts, I’m excited to continue building on this performance and seeing what we can accomplish this year.”
“With a second speedway track coming this weekend in Atlanta, what is your approach going in?”
“Two speedways in a row is definitely something new for everyone, but considering how we ran in Daytona I feel good about going into Atlanta this weekend. It’s going to be some tight racing for sure but we just have to focus on being there at the end and working with our teammates and I think that will give us the opportunity we need to have a shot at (the win).”
About Toyota:
Toyota (NYSE:TM), creator of the Prius hybrid and the Mirai fuel cell vehicle, is committed to building vehicles for the way people live through our Toyota and Lexus brands, and directly employs more than 63,000 people in North America (more than 49,000 in the U.S.). Over the past 65 years, Toyota has assembled nearly 45 million cars and trucks in North America at the company’s 13 manufacturing plants. By 2025, the company’s 14th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. Through our more than 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.), Toyota sold more than 2.4 million cars and trucks (more than 2.1 million in the U.S.) in 2022, of which, nearly one quarter were electrified vehicles (full battery, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell).
About Joe Gibbs Racing:
Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) is one of the premier organizations in NASCAR, with four NASCAR Cup Series teams, three NASCAR Xfinity Series teams, and a driver development program. JGR is based in Huntersville, N.C., and owned by NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Joe Gibbs, who also earned his place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and was named as one of the NFL’s top 10 coaches of all-time with a winning career that included three Super Bowl Championships as head coach of the Washington franchise. JGR has competed in NASCAR since 1992, winning five Cup Series championships and six Xfinity Series owner’s championships, along with more than 350 NASCAR races, including four Brickyard 400s and four Daytona 500s.
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
