Sheldon Creed Earns Fifth Top-Five Finish of O’Reilly Series Chase, Mayer Makes Late Bid for Talladega Win.

TALLADEGA, AL (October 24, 2026) – Sheldon Creed secured a fifth-place finish in the No. 00 Road Ranger Chevrolet at Talladega Superspeedway, earning his fifth top-five result of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Chase, while Sam Mayer brought the No. 41 Starkey Chevrolet home 13th after a late charge for the win.

00 Sheldon Creed:

Sheldon Creed rolled off 12th in the No. 00 Road Ranger Chevrolet and quickly worked his way into the top 10, bouncing back from last week’s engine issues. He surged to third as the field settled into a single lane, holding the position through a late challenge from the bottom lane. Creed made one final push on the last lap of the stage but was unable to find a clear run, crossing the line fifth and earning six stage points.

Creed started Stage Two on the front row but quickly slipped outside the top five before a charge from the high lane propelled his No. 00 Road Ranger Chevrolet back to third. As the field spread three-wide, Creed found teammate Sam Mayer and made a final-lap push through the bottom lane. He secured another fifth-place stage finish, collecting six additional points.

Starting Stage Three in 10th, Creed advanced to seventh when a spin ahead of the field brought out an early caution. After the restart, he teamed up with Mayer to move into fifth before a caution for debris on lap 73 set up another restart. Lining up fourth behind Mayer, Creed was shuffled to ninth in his No. 00 Road Ranger Chevrolet as the field gravitated to the high lane once again for the final 20 laps. Creed was able to mount a charge late through the final corner, powering past four cars to secure a fifth-place finish, his fifth top-five result of the Chase.

“I felt like I had opportunities to make moves throughout the race, but I didn’t always have the help I needed to make them work. You risk losing a lot of positions if you go to the bottom and nobody follows, so it was a tough balance,” Creed said. “I’m proud of everyone at Haas Factory Team and thankful to Road Ranger and Ollie’s for standing behind us this year. I also appreciate Gene Haas, Joe Custer and everyone at the Hendrick Engine Shop for their continued support.”

41 Sam Mayer:

Entering the weekend with five top-10 finishes in six Chase races, Sam Mayer qualified third in his No. 41 Starkey Chevrolet. Caught in the middle lane during the opening shuffle, he dropped outside the top 10 before working his way back into contention. With seven laps remaining in Stage One, Mayer made a move to the bottom and initially gained momentum before the lane lost steam, leaving him outside stage points.

Mayer again worked his way into the top five during Stage Two, finding speed in the bottom lane as the field approached the closing laps. As the pack returned to single-file formation, he helped teammate Sheldon Creed make a late run but received little support from behind in his No. 41 Starkey Chevrolet, finishing outside stage points for the second consecutive stage.

After making some final adjustments to his No. 41 Starkey Chevrolet under the stage caution, Mayer restarted Stage Three in 13th and quickly advanced to sixth. He later teamed up with Creed to reach fifth before a caution with 21 laps remaining moved Mayer to third for the restart. After running strong over the final 20 laps, Mayer dove to the bottom on the final lap in a bid for the win, but without support from behind, he lost ground through the final corner and finished 13th.

“The team brought a fast Starkey Chevrolet, and we executed well on pit road and throughout the race. I was able to work through traffic, but nobody wanted to make a move, so I finally took a chance late and it didn’t work out,” Mayer said. “Hats off to the Hendrick engine shop for bringing us fast engines and everyone at Starkey and Haas Factory Team. We’ll take what we learned and move on to Martinsville.”

Up Next:

The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series heads to Martinsville Speedway for the eighth race of the Chase next Saturday, October 31st, with race coverage on the CW set for 4 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.