Sheldon Creed received an unexpected visitor during the lengthy red flag in the United Rentals Driven to Serve 250 on the Naval Base Coronado in San Diego.
While sitting in his car waiting for workers to repair the second-turn wall severely damaged in a 25-car crash, a fan attired in a cap, T-shirt, shorts and flip flops suddenly appeared at Creed’s window. He chatted with Creed for a few minutes, then patted the car’s hood and hurried off. The fan scaled the catch fence, briefly lost one flip flop, put it back on and then hopped the second fence and calmly walked away in the crowd.
Creed, who eventually finished third to winner Austin Hill, immediately keyed his radio and told his Haas Factory Team: “I think he’s wasted.”
A North Carolina native, Deb Williams is an award-winning motorsports journalist who is in her fourth decade covering auto racing. In addition to covering the sport for United Press International, she has written motorsports articles for several newspapers, magazines and websites including espnW.com, USA Today, and The Charlotte Observer. Her awards include the American Motorsports Media Award of Excellence, two-time National Motorsports Press Association writer of the year, and two-time recipient of the Russ Catlin award. She also has won an award in the North Carolina Press Association’s sports feature category. During her career, Deb has been managing editor of GT Motorsports magazine and was with Winston Cup Scene and NASCAR Winston Cup Scene for 18 years, serving as the publication’s editor for 10 years. In 2024 she was inducted into the NMPA Hall of Fame.