By: Zach Arnold

It was setup to be a good finish for Austin Hill and Sheldon Creed in the Dead On Tools 250. With two laps remaining, Hill was the leader of the race and had three or four points to spare above the playoff cutline. Creed was in a must-win situation; he was sitting next to his teammate on the final restart.

Anyone would expect teammates to have a plan that benefits the team as a whole. If Hill lagged back on the final restart, allowing Creed to lead the race to the checkered flag and accept a second, third, or fourth place finish, then both teams would have been locked for a championship opportunity in Phoenix next week.

Instead, the pair battled hard into turn one and were side-by-side for the entire two laps. This battle allowed the No. 7 of Justin Allgaier to squeeze next to Creed out of turn four and beat him by a few feet to the finish line. Creed would finish second, and Hill was credited with a 21st place finish, as he was caught up in a multi-car wreck on the final lap.

After the race, Richard Childress, Hill, and Creed voiced their opinions on the situation.

Starting with Creed, who announced earlier in the month that he will be leaving RCR after the 2023 season, “I’m so happy to be going where I’m going.” He expressed he has plans for the future, and throughout his entire interview, he was calm and spoke with a soft voice. To me, it seems like not making the final four is not a huge deal to him.

On the other side, things were not so calm for Hill in saying, “I can’t wait for him [Sheldon Creed] to get out of RCR, can’t wait to have Jesse Love as a teammate maybe he’ll work better with me, just can’t wait for him [Sheldon Creed] to get over to Joe Gibbs Racing and I don’t have to put up with his sh*t.”

The 29-year-old was required to report to the infield care center after being involved in the last lap crash; on his way there, he sarcastically clapped at the No. 2 pit box to show his frustration to the team. His frustration was matched by team owner, Childress, in saying “I’ve had drivers race for me before, but nobody as stupid as Sheldon Creed.” Obviously disappointed in the situation, a team owner calling one of his drivers the stupidest that has ever driven for their team is a brutal statement.

Out of the entire situation, who do you think is at fault? Childress, Hill, Creed? Is it fair to point the blame on the RCR crew chiefs and teams for not communicating a plan before the final restart?