"I felt like it was time for a change" - Sheldon Creed shares his thoughts after announcing exit from Richard Childress Racing 

NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Sheldon Creed recently announced that he would part ways with Richard Childress Racing after the 2023 season.

An announcement coming this late into the playoff season left many fans speculating if Creed had chanced upon another competitive ride. The #2 Chevrolet Camaro driver confirmed the same ahead of the playoff race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

After his two-year winless stint with RCR, the 26-year-old felt the need for a change and a different environment.

"I don’t know, I think a lot of things play a role," Creed told NASCAR.com. "I’ve been happy. We’ve had OK runs, but I felt like it was time for a change for me just to switch things up a bit."

"Honestly, I thought I was going back to RCR if you had asked me four weeks ago. Just an opportunity came up to make a change. I don’t know. We bonded on it for a while. RC (Team owner Richard Childress) and everyone at RCR are great people. They gave me my first shot out of trucks. So it’s not an easy decision. If we do make this jump, is it worth it? All those little things go through your head," he continued.

Sheldon Creed also addressed how quickly the circumstances changed in the last month, as he was expecting to continue at RCR in early August.

"I would have loved to have this behind us in August and then everyone could move forward. But here we are at the beginning of October, later than we all wanted," he said.

Creed also had a run-in with his teammate Austin Hill at Bristol Motor Speedway, with rumors circulating about the deteriorating relationship between the two RCR drivers. Sheldon Creed refuted the rumors, claiming that Hill and he were on good terms.

Bidding goodbye to his teammate and RCR, the Alpine California native seems to head toward a competitive team in 2024, probably one of the two vacant seats at Joe Gibbs Racing.

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Sheldon Creed emphasizes winning a race before leaving Richard Childress Racing

With four races left in the 2023 Xfinity season, Sheldon Creed is fully focused on winning a race in tribute to the #2 Richard Childress Racing crew led by crew chief Jeff Stankiewicz.

"We really want to finish really strong together. And that’s important for not only myself, but for all the guys. Like, someone’s going to step into this car and have a good shot at winning with these guys and running well," Creed told NASCAR.com.

The 2020 Truck Series champion is yet to claim his maiden Xfinity win and doing so in the playoffs would put him in title contention.

"I want to help them prove how good they are and finish strong. If we can go and win one of these next three (races) and get ourselves in the final four and give ourselves a shot at the championship then yeah, I think everyone would be happy," the American said.

Heading into the Round of 8, Sheldon Creed is currently seventh in the standings, 12 points below the cutline.