Sheldon Creed Leaves WWTR as Chase Points Leader; HFT Teammates Finish Inside Top Three.
MADISON, IL (September 12, 2026) – Sheldon Creed and Sam Mayer delivered a strong points night for Haas Factory Team at World Wide Technology Raceway (WWTR), finishing second and third, respectively, on Saturday night. Creed’s runner-up finish moved him into the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Chase points lead, while Mayer’s third-place result vaulted him up four spots into a tie for fifth in the standings.
00 Sheldon Creed:
Opening the race weekend just seven points behind Justin Allgaier for the Chase points lead, and fresh off his second career O’Reilly Series win at Darlington, Sheldon Creed rolled off third at WWTR. The No. 00 Road Ranger Chevrolet dropped to seventh early after the bottom lane struggled to get going, but Creed quickly rebounded across the opening 45 laps to sixth and scored five stage points in Stage One.
Creed cycled back to fourth after the extended stage break before settling into sixth in his No. 00 Road Ranger Chevrolet as the field began to spread out. He moved into the top five after the No. 21 suffered a flat tire and finished Stage Two in fourth, giving him 12 valuable stage points on the night.
Restarting seventh for the final stage, Creed worked his way through traffic and held sixth place before a lap 126 caution set up a strong late-race charge. Creed moved to second with 40 laps remaining, then closed within a half-second of the leader before linking up with Sam Mayer for a pass that secured second and third for the Haas Factory Team teammates. Creed ultimately finished second in his No. 00 Road Ranger Chevrolet, earning his second consecutive top-two finish and moving into the Chase points lead over Allgaier.
“It certainly feels good to be the points leader. Our team made big changes all night to get the balance where we wanted it and that’s now two solid races to begin the Chase,” Creed said. “I’ll take the second place, and we’ll move on to Bristol. A huge thank you to everyone at Haas Factory Team, Road Ranger, Ollie’s and Chevrolet for their support all season long.”
41 Sam Mayer:
Starting 18th at WWTR, Sam Mayer quickly worked his way through the field, moving into 12th before the first caution on lap 12. The No. 41 Starkey Chevrolet continued to gain ground, breaking into the top 10 on lap 22 as one of the race’s biggest movers before finishing Stage One ninth and grabbing two stage points.
After a pit-lane incident brought out a red flag, Mayer restarted seventh and quickly found pace in his No. 41 Starkey Chevrolet on the bottom line. He charged into the top five and reached as high as second before a caution midway through Stage Two. However, Mayer closed the gap to the leaders on the ensuing restart and battled Jesse Love and Carson Kvapil for the lead before finishing third, earning nine more stage points.
Mayer made minor handling adjustments in his No. 41 Starkey Chevrolet during the final stage break and restarted third. He briefly moved into second before a restart dropped him outside the top five, but Mayer quickly regained ground and worked his way back to fourth. As the leaders battled late, Mayer and Creed surged into the top three with a pass on the No. 54 with 20 laps remaining. Mayer held his ground and came home with a third-place result, matching his best finish of the season and moving hi. up four spots to a tie for fifth in the Chase standings.
Up Next: The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway for the third race of the Chase next Friday, September 18th, with race coverage on the CW set for 7:30 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.