Sheldon Creed Clinches Spot in The Chase with Eighth-Place Finish at Indianapolis.

SPEEDWAY, IN (July 25, 2026) – Sheldon Creed earned his first pole of the season, and the fifth of his career, on Saturday afternoon at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as he clinched a spot in The Chase with an eighth-place run. Sam Mayer collected valuable points toward his own Chase push with a 13th-place finish in the No. 41 Audibel Chevrolet.

00 Sheldon Creed:

After earning Haas Factory Team’s second consecutive pole, and third straight at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Sheldon Creed led the field to green with a chance to lock himself into The Chase. With teammate Sam Mayer pushing from behind, the two broke away from the field on the opening lap before lapped traffic erased Creed's advantage after leading the first 23 laps. Despite the No. 00 Road Ranger Chevrolet continuing to trend tight the rest of the segment, Creed ended Stage One in seventh.

A strong stop during the stage break moved Creed to fourth for the Stage Two restart, and he quickly climbed to third before settling into the pack. Creed advanced to second and spent much of the stage tracking leader Ross Chastain until a late caution reset the field. The No. 00 Road Ranger Chevrolet returned to pit road under yellow and restarted fourth after two cars stayed out, ultimately finishing the stage in fourth to give him 11 stage points on the afternoon.

With the two cars that stayed out pitting before the restart, Creed moved up to third to begin the final stage. After being shuffled back while caught on the outside of a three-wide battle, Creed methodically worked his way back into the top three with less than 30 laps remaining. However, with tire wear beginning to play a factor deep into the run, Creed gradually slipped through the field. He held on in the closing laps for an eighth-place finish, securing his spot in The O'Reilly Series Chase.

“The day started off great with the pole and leading a bunch of laps there at the beginning, but our Road Ranger Chevrolet just kept trending tight. It’s a little frustrating, but it’s nice to secure our spot in The Chase with another strong run,” Creed said. “Thank you to everyone at Haas Factory Team, Chevrolet and Road Ranger for supporting me all season long.”

41 Sam Mayer:

Holding a 33-point advantage above The Chase cutline entering the weekend, Sam Mayer put himself in position for a strong points day by qualifying third on Saturday morning. Starting behind Haas Factory Team teammate Sheldon Creed, the two teammates pulled away from the field on the opening lap before settling in. However, Mayer's car tightened late in the opening stage, but he was still able to finish fifth and collect six valuable points.

A stop during the stage break put Mayer sixth for the Stage Two restart. After briefly moving forward, he settled back into sixth before methodically closing the gap to the lead pack during a long green-flag run. A caution on lap 54 for a spin in Turn One reset the field, and following another trip to pit road, Mayer restarted ninth. He battled back through traffic over the closing laps of the stage to finish seventh.

Mayer opened the final stage by making an impressive three-wide move to the inside of Turn One, climbing to sixth before settling into rhythm. As the race shifted into its longest green-flag run, the No. 41 Audibel Chevrolet began to lose grip on worn tires, causing Mayer to fade outside the top 10. He ultimately crossed the finish line in 13th, and heads to Iowa Speedway 29 points above the cutline.

“Our car just wouldn’t take the adjustments we made all day long, so it’s a little bit of bummer because my team worked their tails off all week,” Mayer said. “I’m still proud of everyone at Haas Factory Team and Hendrick Engines for bringing me a fast Audibel Chevrolet. We did what we needed to do today and got some points.”

Up Next: The NASCAR O’Reilly Series takes next weekend off before heading to Iowa Speedway on Saturday, August 8th, with race coverage on the CW set for 5 p.m. ET.

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.