Haas Factory Team News
Creed Scores Third Top-Five Finish of Season at Las Vegas Mayer Starts on Pole and Leads 32 laps; Custer Pulls Double Duty.
LAS VEGAS, NV (March 15, 2026) – Sheldon Creed powered his No. 00 Ollie’s Chevrolet to a third-place finish in Saturday’s NASCAR O’ Reilly Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, marking his third top-five result of the season for Haas Factory Team. Teammate Sam Mayer started from the pole and led 32 laps before an early mechanical issue derailed his strong run, while Cole Custer pulled double duty during the weekend, competing in both the O’ Reilly Series and the NASCAR Cup Series events.
O’ Reilly Series00 Sheldon Creed
Sheldon Creed started just outside the front row at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and quickly put his No. 00 Ollie’s Chevrolet in contention. After slipping past Kyle Larson on the opening lap, Creed settled into the lead group and helped his team open an early gap to the field. Defending the high line against challengers like Justin Allgaier and Taylor Gray, Creed held strong to finish Stage One in fifth, earning six valuable stage points.
March 14, 2026: during the Pennzoil 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Speedway in Las Vegas, NV. (HHP/Tom Copeland)Creed remained a factor throughout Stage Two, battling door-to-door with Cup Series regulars Chase Briscoe and Larson as the field fought for position. After a three-wide move helped him climb into the top five, Creed continued trading positions late in the run before securing a sixth-place finish in the second stage. He added four more points and extended his streak of stage-point paying finishes.Starting the final stage near the front, Creed charged into the lead battle, using the outside lane to move into second and challenged for the top spot through multiple restarts. After briefly slipping outside the top five, he rebounded with late passes on Corey Day and Sammy Smith to reclaim second before setting his sights on Larson in the closing laps. Navigating heavy traffic to the finish, Creed crossed the line in third to secure his third top-five finish of the season.“This has been a tough one for me, for whatever reason, in the past, but the car felt decent from the start of the day, and we worked on it throughout the stages,” Creed said. “It good pretty good there at the end, and we were able to cap off another really strong run in our Ollie’s Chevrolet.”41 Sam Mayer
Sam Mayer began the day with his second pole of the season, and the sixth of his career, laying down the fastest lap at Las Vegas in his No. 41 Audibel Chevrolet. Mayer drove away from the field at the start of the race and again after an early caution, clearing teammate Sheldon Creed. Building a gap of more than a second to the field, Mayer battled Justin Allgaier late in the run before finishing Stage One in second to earn nine stage points. In doing so, he remained the only driver to lead at least one lap in every race this season.
March 14: NASCAR races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, NV. (HHP/David Graham)Following the stage caution, Mayer was forced to pit road with a fuel pick-up issue that pushed the No. 41 several laps down before returning to the track. Despite the setback, Mayer maintained the speed he showed early, regaining one lap during a caution on lap 58 and turning laps comparable to the leaders while racing through traffic. He finished Stage Two still five laps down but continued searching for opportunities to gain more ground.The final stage became a race of patience for Mayer as he waited for cautions and wave-arounds to regain laps. A caution on lap 118 allowed him to take a wave-around and recover one lap, though later cautions didn’t fall in his favor. Even while matching the pace of the leaders, Mayer was unable to fully recover from the early issue and ultimately crossed the line in 35th after a promising start to the day.Cup Series41 Cole Custer
Custer began the weekend with his first start in the NASCAR O’ Reilly Series since 2024 on Saturday. He started 16th and overcame an early pit stop that dropped the No. 0 Sysco Chevrolet to 34th. Charging through the field on fresh tires, Custer passed 26 cars in 25 laps to finish Stage One in ninth after a late pass on Brandon Jones. He ran mid-pack through Stage Two while battling drivers like Carson Kvapil and William Sawalich, then rallied again late in the race, gaining eight spots over the final green-flag run to finish 18th.
March 14: NASCAR races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, NV. (HHP/David Graham)After competing in Saturday’s O’Reilly Series race, Cole Custer returned on Sunday to pilot the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Chevrolet across 267 laps. Custer fought a tight-handling car throughout the opening run but stretched his fuel longer than the rest of the field, becoming the final driver to make a green-flag pit stop. After pitting from the lead on lap 41, he rejoined the race a lap down and spent the remainder of Stage One battling around Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Cody Ware, crossing the line still one lap behind the leaders. Stage Two remained green throughout, with Custer making his lone stop on lap 122 while continuing to manage the tight condition on long runs. The No. 41 began to free up deeper into the stint, allowing Custer to gain positions as the race progressed. In the final stage, he worked forward before a caution for a Connor Zilisch spin came just as he was preparing for a green-flag stop. Taking the free pass put Custer two laps down, and he continued to battle to the finish, ultimately bringing home 27th.
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.
O’ Reilly Series00 Sheldon Creed
Sheldon Creed started just outside the front row at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and quickly put his No. 00 Ollie’s Chevrolet in contention. After slipping past Kyle Larson on the opening lap, Creed settled into the lead group and helped his team open an early gap to the field. Defending the high line against challengers like Justin Allgaier and Taylor Gray, Creed held strong to finish Stage One in fifth, earning six valuable stage points.
March 14, 2026: during the Pennzoil 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Speedway in Las Vegas, NV. (HHP/Tom Copeland)Creed remained a factor throughout Stage Two, battling door-to-door with Cup Series regulars Chase Briscoe and Larson as the field fought for position. After a three-wide move helped him climb into the top five, Creed continued trading positions late in the run before securing a sixth-place finish in the second stage. He added four more points and extended his streak of stage-point paying finishes.Starting the final stage near the front, Creed charged into the lead battle, using the outside lane to move into second and challenged for the top spot through multiple restarts. After briefly slipping outside the top five, he rebounded with late passes on Corey Day and Sammy Smith to reclaim second before setting his sights on Larson in the closing laps. Navigating heavy traffic to the finish, Creed crossed the line in third to secure his third top-five finish of the season.“This has been a tough one for me, for whatever reason, in the past, but the car felt decent from the start of the day, and we worked on it throughout the stages,” Creed said. “It good pretty good there at the end, and we were able to cap off another really strong run in our Ollie’s Chevrolet.”41 Sam MayerSam Mayer began the day with his second pole of the season, and the sixth of his career, laying down the fastest lap at Las Vegas in his No. 41 Audibel Chevrolet. Mayer drove away from the field at the start of the race and again after an early caution, clearing teammate Sheldon Creed. Building a gap of more than a second to the field, Mayer battled Justin Allgaier late in the run before finishing Stage One in second to earn nine stage points. In doing so, he remained the only driver to lead at least one lap in every race this season.
March 14: NASCAR races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, NV. (HHP/David Graham)Following the stage caution, Mayer was forced to pit road with a fuel pick-up issue that pushed the No. 41 several laps down before returning to the track. Despite the setback, Mayer maintained the speed he showed early, regaining one lap during a caution on lap 58 and turning laps comparable to the leaders while racing through traffic. He finished Stage Two still five laps down but continued searching for opportunities to gain more ground.The final stage became a race of patience for Mayer as he waited for cautions and wave-arounds to regain laps. A caution on lap 118 allowed him to take a wave-around and recover one lap, though later cautions didn’t fall in his favor. Even while matching the pace of the leaders, Mayer was unable to fully recover from the early issue and ultimately crossed the line in 35th after a promising start to the day.Cup Series41 Cole CusterCuster began the weekend with his first start in the NASCAR O’ Reilly Series since 2024 on Saturday. He started 16th and overcame an early pit stop that dropped the No. 0 Sysco Chevrolet to 34th. Charging through the field on fresh tires, Custer passed 26 cars in 25 laps to finish Stage One in ninth after a late pass on Brandon Jones. He ran mid-pack through Stage Two while battling drivers like Carson Kvapil and William Sawalich, then rallied again late in the race, gaining eight spots over the final green-flag run to finish 18th.
March 14: NASCAR races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, NV. (HHP/David Graham)After competing in Saturday’s O’Reilly Series race, Cole Custer returned on Sunday to pilot the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Chevrolet across 267 laps. Custer fought a tight-handling car throughout the opening run but stretched his fuel longer than the rest of the field, becoming the final driver to make a green-flag pit stop. After pitting from the lead on lap 41, he rejoined the race a lap down and spent the remainder of Stage One battling around Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Cody Ware, crossing the line still one lap behind the leaders. Stage Two remained green throughout, with Custer making his lone stop on lap 122 while continuing to manage the tight condition on long runs. The No. 41 began to free up deeper into the stint, allowing Custer to gain positions as the race progressed. In the final stage, he worked forward before a caution for a Connor Zilisch spin came just as he was preparing for a green-flag stop. Taking the free pass put Custer two laps down, and he continued to battle to the finish, ultimately bringing home 27th.“We had really good long speed, just didn’t have it on the short run, but the guys at the HFT shop did a great job working on the car,” Custer said. “We made gains during the weekend but just need to fire off a little better on Saturdays.”
Up Next
NASCAR heads to the track “Too Tough to Tame” next weekend at Darlington Raceway for the sixth points race on the NASCAR Cup Series/O’ Reilly schedule. Race coverage for the O’ Reilly Series is set for 5:30 p.m. ET on Saturday on the CW, and Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on FS1 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.