Denny Hamlin reacts to Sheldon Creed ‘finally’ earning first career NASCAR O’Reilly win at Atlanta

Denny Hamlin was happy to see Sheldon Creed earn his first win in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series at Atlanta this past weekend. On this week’s Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin shared his reaction to Creed earning the victory after competing in 137 O’Reilly Series races.

“Finally,” Denny Hamlin said. “Like he said after the race, not kind of how he thought or was going to draw it up, being that some other guys had issues and finds his way there. But he’s had plenty go the other way, so I think he’s deserving of some good fortune at the end of that race on the last lap.”

Sheldon Creed won the Bennett Transportation and Logistics 250 at Atlanta after Austin Hill and Ross Chastain collided while battling for the lead during the final lap. Creed was in third place at the time, and he claimed the top spot following the collision.

“Incredible,” Creed said after winning the race. “It worked out. Finally, a winner. Obviously had a lot of good runs, but never finished it up, never won. To finally do that, after it looked like another second place for a while coming off of [turn] two, it just all worked out for us tonight.”

More on Sheldon Creed’s NASCAR career

Chastain, who finished sixth in the Atlanta race, reacted to the collision with Hill. “No excuse, I turned him okay, for sure,’’ he said. “And I hate that I did that to another Chevy, but I’m glad Sheldon was there to pick it up. …I don’t want to spin these guys, I’m not trying to crash coming to the checkered. But to get the run down the back, I did not execute it very well, that’s for sure.”

Creed drives the No. 00 Chevrolet for Haas Factory Team. This is his second season with the team as a full-time driver in the O’Reilly Series and his fifth season overall. In his O’Reilly career, Creed has finished runner-up 15 times, including twice last season.

Before joining the O’Reilly Series full-time, Creed spent three seasons as a full-time driver in the Truck Series. During that time, the 28-year-old won eight races and claimed the Truck Series championship in 2020.