NASCAR
Sheldon Creed Takes Maiden O’Reilly Series Win from Atlanta
HAMPTON, Ga. – As the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series rolled into Atlanta’s EchoPark Speedway, all attention was rightfully on Austin Hill. The Georgia native and last week’s Daytona winner was chasing a sixth victory on his home turf. At the white flag, the Bennett 250 appeared to be in Hill’s hands. A bad block thrown by the 21, however, led to him spinning off the bumper of Ross Chastain. This opened the door for Sheldon Creed, taking his first Saturday win after 15 runner-up results. Start number 138 was the lucky one for the 2020 Truck Series champion, finally making it a Sheldon Saturday.
Richard Childress Racing’s drafting supremacy was on display from the drop of the green flag. Despite starting 20th, Hill made his way forward in seemingly no time. The opening Stage win also went to Jesse Love, with Stage 2 going to JR Motorsports rookie Rajah Caruth. Only a lap four incident slowed the action between both stages, when both Sieg brothers were taken out early.
.@RyanSiegRacing and @KyleSieg28 are both out of this race after only four laps, and both voice their displeasure to Corey Day for forcing a three-wide issue so early.
“Everybody usually is boneheaded around here…he’s #1, he’s a great driver…”#Bennett250 #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/pg8CTfQmVJ
— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) February 21, 2026
Jumping ahead to the closing laps, Ross Chastain in the Jordan Anderson Racing No. 32 had position on Hill’s No. 21. Hill made what appeared to be the winning pass coming to the white flag, finding a hole just big enough beneath Chastain and clearing himself. A lap later, Hill was blocking for his life trying to hold the hungry pack at bay for a sixth Atlanta win. In turn three the No. 21 was not far enough ahead of the 32 and spun on corner entry. Hill was miraculously able to save his Chevrolet and avoided wall contact, but Creed came from third to steal this win.
The dramatic finish in Atlanta that ended with @sheldoncreed earning his first victory in 138 starts! pic.twitter.com/lssBvwMw76
— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) February 22, 2026
“Incredible, just been a loser the last year and kept showing up,” Creed said. “Not how you draw it up, when you win a Truck championship and win races and go to [O’Reilly] and go four years winless. Incredible, thanks to all my past teams at RCR and Gibbs, they all gave me great opportunities. Now here with Haas Factory Team, back with Chevrolet, great engine, the Hendrick Engine Shop did a great job for us. Road Ranger, Pit Boss, everyone that supports us, Gene Haas, Joe Custer, incredible.”
“It never plays out [how you think]. You just have to draw it up. Finally a winner, and maybe one win will revive my career, I don’t know. But maybe if I win a few this year it will. Probably going to drink a ton of Coors Light tonight.”
Behind Creed at the finish were: Parker Retzlaff, Nick Sanchez, Corey Day, and Jesse Love. The rest of the top-10 were: Ross Chastain, Sam Mayer, Rajah Caruth, Taylor Gray, and Brandon Jones. Hear post-race thoughts from a few of these drivers below.
.@_AustinHill says he knew to expect contact with @RossChastain behind him on the last lap, but he says no hard feelings as long as it’s fair the other way. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/tiOqwEwbq2
— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) February 22, 2026
.@corey_day_ takes blame for a few incidents on track tonight but still somehow survived the chaos to finish 4th.
He does apologize to @RyanSiegRacing here. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/JolX4u7gXg
— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) February 22, 2026
.@jesselovejr1 says he thought he lost the race with 20 or 30 laps left, and gave his view of the Chastain and Hill contact. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/WvZxqIQGEa
— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) February 22, 2026
.@rajahcaruth_ said leading laps and being in contention tonight felt normal, the @JRMotorsports 88 leaves Atlanta in 8th. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/FnigjuU6Fe
— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) February 22, 2026
Creed will try and go back-to-back next week at COTA in the Focused Health 250. The sixth-straight season of O’Reilly cars taking on the Austin, Texas layout has great opportunity ahead for another new winner. The green flag will fly Saturday, Feb. 28 at 3 p.m. ET on The CW, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo credit to Sean Gardner/Getty Images
