Sheldon Creed Makes His Final Stop of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series
Sitting second in the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series Championship points, Sheldon Creed came into Round 15 with an all or nothing attitude and the will to reach out and take a championship at any cost. With the 2012 Pro Lite Unlimited champion just 9 points behind Creed he knew he would have his work cut out for him in Round 15.
As if attempting to compete for a championship wasn’t enough pressure, Sheldon Creed would take the Traxxas AM Ortega BFGoodrich Pro Lite #74 to battle against 25 other Pro Lite drivers in a quest to become the Lucas Oil Challenge Cup champion, and $10,000 richer.
When the green flag dropped for the final points race, “The Prodigy” Sheldon Creed pushed the #74 Pro Lite to the absolute limit in order to make up ground on his 12th place starting position. One by one Creed clawed away at the competition putting down faster and faster lap times each time around the track. Lap 8 would bring out a full course red flag after a nasty rollover off of the ski-jump while battling for the third place position. Unfortunately for Creed when the red flag came out; Creed stopped the #74 and immediately got slammed from behind. This incident would not only take the reckless driver out of Round 15 but it would also send Creed to the hot-pits in need of repairs.
Crew Chief Jimmy Wetzel and the OCCR crew made quick work of Creed’s costly repairs just in time for “The Prodigy” to catch up to the back of the field before the green flag. Sheldon Creed would again be up against all odds in order to make a complete comeback with just 4 laps remaining.
Sheldon Creed would drive the Traxxas AM Ortega BFGoodrich Pro Lite #74 all the way from the last position and earn himself a very respectable 6th place finish for the last and final round of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series. Due to the costly loss of track position, this 6th place finish would move Creed to 3rd in the Championship points hunt.
With the points championship behind him and nothing left to lose, Sheldon Creed and the OCCR crew prepared themselves for a race unlike any other; the Lucas Oil Challenge Cup. The Lucas Oil Challenge Cup boasts racers from all over the country for a chance at $10,000 in cold hard cash; it’s a no-holds-barred battle to the finish.
For Challenge Cup races only, racers are staged on the track in reverse order of how they finished in the championship points standings, shuffling Creed towards the rear of the field.
When the green flag dropped, the battle for 10k was on. Through turn one Sheldon Creed had already picked off a couple of the slower trucks that were staged in front of him. Before you knew it, it was already lap 4 and “The Prodigy” sat in the third place position battling it out with the 2012 Pro Lite champion RJ Anderson.
Creed and Anderson would swap positions multiple times igniting the capacity crowd and keeping the fans on the edge of their seat. 13 laps into the main event and Sheldon Creed would get a second look at a possible victory. The field was bunched up and restacked after a full course yellow.
The entire field would be put into a “green/white checkered” situation and there would be one final sprint to the finish. When the track went green for the final time, Creed did what he does best and put everything he had into the #74. With one final turn left, an unsuccessful move on first place by RJ Anderson caused a minor log jam just 500 feet until the finish. Sheldon Creed was able to escape the carnage and keep his momentum going to the finish line. Sheldon would finish the Pro Lite Lucas Oil Challenge Cup race in the second place position, sending him home with a nice big check for $5,000.
Sheldon Creed went on to say, “I couldn’t be happier. My crew and my family have been so supportive throughout the year and there is no way I would be here if it wasn’t for them. We had a couple bad rounds but we didn’t let it get to us and kept focusing on a championship. We were so close I could almost taste it.”