Sheldon Creed Earns First Career O’Reilly Series Victory at EchoPark Speedway. HFT Claims Second Ever Win.

HAMPTON, GA (February 22, 2026) – After 138 starts, Sheldon Creed finally stood in victory lane Saturday night at EchoPark Speedway, earning his first career NASCAR O’ Reilly Series win with a last-lap pass. The dramatic breakthrough highlighted a strong night for the Haas Factory Team, as teammate Sam Mayer started on the pole and led 23 laps, fighting back from adversity to secure a seventh-place finish.O’ Reilly Series

00 Sheldon Creed

Sheldon Creed delivered a breakthrough performance at EchoPark Speedway, capturing his first career win in the NASCAR O’ Reilly Series in his 138th start. A last lap pass of Austin Hill in turn three put the Alpine, CA native on point in the closing moments, and then in victory lane after 15 career runner-up finishes since joining the O’ Reilly Series.“I’ve just kept showing up. Not how you draw it up when you win a Truck championship and win races and go to the O’Reilly Series and go four years winless,” Creed said. “So, incredible. And now here as a part of Haas Factory team, back with Chevrolet, with Road Ranger on the hood. It’s incredible”Driving the No. 00 Road Ranger Chevrolet, Creed rolled off fourth and quickly established himself at the front, working the outside lane with teammate Sam Mayer and running second before an early caution. He stayed committed to the high line and inherited the lead on lap 26, pacing the field for three laps. Despite getting loose off turn four late in Stage One, Creed recovered to finish sixth and collect five stage points.After gaining two spots on pit road with four tires and fuel, Creed restarted fourth and spent much of Stage Two inside the top three. He ran second to Jesse Love for the opening stretch before reclaiming the lead on lap 63, leading a total of 11 laps in the stage. However, as the draft intensified late in the stage he was shuffled back to ninth at the finish, adding two more stage points for a total of seven on the day.Creed lined up ninth to begin the final stage but wasted little time charging forward, jumping to fourth on the lap-96 restart and moving into second following a caution on lap 105. Through a series of late-race cautions, he consistently maintained a top-five position and restarted fourth with five laps remaining. On the final lap, Creed capitalized when Hill was collected in an incident, surging past the No. 21 to secure a long-awaited and hard-fought victory.“I would say that to myself 10 years ago or anyone, just work hard and keep being patient,” Creed said. “It’s not how I drew it up. I drew it up to win in my first year in the series, but we were at 137. I wish I could have a Connor Zilisch story where you come in and dominate. It’s just not my story. Keep working hard.”

41 Sam Mayer
Sam Mayer showed both speed and resilience on Saturday night, turning early dominance into a ninth-place finish for the No. 41 Audibel Chevrolet. Mayer earned his fifth career pole and controlled the opening portion of the race, leading the first 12 laps and battling with Taylor Gray for the top spot on a restart before a setback struck while out front.A left-front tire went down on lap 26 while Mayer was leading, forcing an unscheduled green-flag stop. A speeding penalty during the stop dropped the team three laps down, and Mayer finished Stage One in 32nd despite having one of the fastest cars in the field. He took the wave-around at the stage break to get one lap back and ran the second stage two laps down, reporting no damage but a slightly loose condition.After gaining two spots on pit road with four tires and fuel at the end of Stage Two, Mayer methodically worked his way forward. A caution on lap 105 earned him the lucky dog, and a series of late cautions allowed the No. 41 to return to the lead lap. Mayer capitalized in the closing laps, charging through the draft to finish ninth. He finished the night with 23 laps led, which stands as the most he has led at a drafting track in his NASCAR O’ Reilly Series career.“I’m proud of everyone on this No. 41 team tonight. We had a car capable of winning, and even after everything that went wrong, we just kept digging. To drive it back into the top 10 says a lot about this group,” Mayer said. “Congratulations to my teammate Sheldon Creed on the win. He earned that one, and it’s awesome to see him get to victory lane.”Cup Series

41 Cole Custer
Cole Custer and the No. 41 Haas / Andy’s Chevrolet team faced an uphill battle after qualifying was rained out, placing them 27th on the starting grid by metric. Custer slipped to 35th early in Stage One while fighting tight conditions in the corners, ultimately finishing the opening segment in 33rd after drafting with Ryan Preece.A strong pit stop to open Stage Two gained Custer 11 spots, moving him up to 22nd on the restart. He ran inside the top 25 before a multi-car incident on lap 82 left him with minor damage. After pitting for repairs, he was clipped again by Austin Dillon on lap 103, requiring additional adjustments to address right-side damage and tighten up the handling. Despite racing as high as 21st, Custer finished Stage Two in 27th.Restarting 11th in the final stage, Custer battled in heavy traffic as the intensity ramped up. A caution on lap 200 brought another four-tire stop with the No. 41 running 23rd. Custer continued to fight inside the top 25 through the closing laps, but an incident with just four laps to go regulated him to a 22nd-place finish on Sunday.“We worked on it hard all day and had it pretty good there at the end, but just got caught up in the chaos of Atlanta,” Custer said. “I’m looking forward to COTA next weekend and trying to get a good run there.”

Up Next
Circuit of the Americas is the site of the third race on the NASCAR schedule next weekend in Austin, Texas. Race coverage Sunday is set for 3 p.m. ET on the CW for the O’ Reilly Series, and 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX for the Cup Series.

About Haas Factory Team:
Haas Factory Team is a NASCAR Cup and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series program owned by Gene Haas, founder of Haas Automation. New in 2026, Haas Factory will align with Chevrolet. As part of the manufacturer switch, HFT will have a technical alliance with Hendrick Motorsports, which will include using Hendrick-built engines across both series. The team will feature Cole Custer driving the No. 41 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in the NASCAR Cup Series, while Sheldon Creed and Sam Mayer take on the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series in the No. 00 and No. 41 Chevrolet Camaros, respectively. Based in Kannapolis, North Carolina, the Haas Factory Team reflects a commitment to performance and engineering excellence, carrying forward Gene Haas’s commitment to motorsports.