Last year, Richard Childress Racing ran two fulltime Xfinity Series entries for the first time since 2018. For their RCR Xfinity Series program, the organization tabbed two Truck Series standouts to drive: Sheldon Creed and Austin Hill. The early returns on investment demonstrated some surprising results. While many expected Creed to be the standout, Hill took to the Xfinity Series quite well compared to his teammate. Both drivers returned for the 2023 season. Hill looked set to be a potential Championship Four contender while Creed was hoping to progress significantly from a trying rookie season. For this Season in Review, did both RCR Xfinity driver meet their preseason expectations?
Sheldon Creed – #2
2023 Stat Line:Â 33 Starts – 7 Top-5s, 15 Top-10s, 1 Pole, 190 Laps Led, Avg Fin 13.5
Crew Chief: Jeff Stankiewicz
Driver Points Ranking: 7;Â Owner Points Ranking: 8
Notable Results: 5 second place finishes; First career pole at Portland; Angered everyone within RCR at Martinsville
As mentioned in the introduction, Sheldon Creed was expected to be the prize prospect between the two RCR drivers last year. Creed ran strongly in the Truck Series, including hoisting the championship trophy in 2020. However, 2022 saw Creed struggle to adapt to the Xfinity Series. To say Creed’s 2022 was a disappointment is an understatement. Not only did he fail to match Hill’s performance, Creed also missed the playoffs in top tier equipment. Heading into 2023, improvement was a necessity.
Did Sheldon Creed improve this season? In certain ways, significantly. However, he still paled in comparison to his teammate. On the bright side, Creed managed to make and advance in the playoffs. His average finish jumped 4 positions thanks to his lead lap finishes and DNFs improving by 7 races. While he did not win a race, the RCR driver finished second 5 times. Creed was certainly more competitive throughout the season compared to 2022. However, Creed only managed to pick up 3 more Top-5s and 2 more Top-10s. Plus, Creed still went winless in RCR equipment. Not only did he go winless, but he only managed to lead 35 more laps than last year.
Pre-Announced Departure and Martinsville Drama
Despite still underachieving compared to his teammate, the thought was that Sheldon Creed and RCR would run it back one more season in 2024. However, Creed dropped the shocking news that he would leaving RCR after the four remaining races. Creed put out a statement before RCR could, which seemingly rubbed the organization the wrong way. RCR did not get a chance to spin Creed’s departure in a positive light for the organization.
Throwing that PR incident on top of the Bristol wreck, RCR must have had short patience with Creed as the season concluded. With tensions seemingly at a boiling point, it would not take much for the drama to become entertainment.
Martinsville was the site of said entertainment. Based on how the Round of 8 had played out, Sheldon Creed was in a must win situation to advance to the Championship Four. Meanwhile, Austin Hill’s fate was more influx due to how close the points were between Justin Allgaier, Cole Custer, and himself. On the final restart, Creed and Hill bumped and banged around the paper clip for the final two laps. Both Creed and Hill were aggressively fighting for the win. That culminated in a bizarre final two turns where neither RCR driver would end up winning despite entering Turn 3 in first and second. After the race, Andy Petree berated Creed on pit road, Hill announced Creed’s 2024 plans, and Richard Childress called Creed the dumbest guy to drive for him.
2023 Grade: C+
While Sheldon Creed did make key strides in 2023, he still underperformed in RCR equipment. When comparing Creed to his teammate, he clearly does not stack up. Creed was supposed to be the better talent between the two. After two seasons running in the same equipment, Hill has the clear edge. Now, Creed recently claimed that RCR might have been sandbagging his rides. Whether you want to believe that or not is up to you, but it was clear that Hill was the preferred driver at RCR.
Sheldon Creed did have a great final 12 races in the 2 car. Outside of Homestead, each race saw Creed in the Top-15. During this 12 race stretch, Creed averaged a 8.1 finish with 5 Top-5s. Unfortunately for him, his worst two races came during the Round of 8. If this version of Creed shows up next season, then Joe Gibbs Racing might have a championship contender joining their organization.
2024 Outlook
Will there be a Sheldon Creed revenge tour in 2024? Well, it depends on which Creed shows up. If it is the Sheldon Creed that ended 2023 on a hot streak, then potentially. Creed seemingly believes that RCR was not fully supporting him. Now that he is with JGR, he has to back up that statement. If he goes out and wins races with JGR, then his claims against his former team seem more legitimate. If he performs about the same as the past two seasons, then maybe he is the problem.
In theory, the reverse logic could apply to the RCR 2 car. Jesse Love will be replacing Creed in the 2 car. If Love goes and outperforms what Creed did in that car, will that prove that Creed was the issue? One could argue that Creed might still be right and that RCR is actually fully supporting Love (as they did not with Creed). Either way, this driver v. team rivalry will be something to watch in 2024.
Ty Dillon – #3
2023 Stat Line: 2 Starts – 239 Laps Ran, 2 Lead Lap Finishes, Avg Fin 16.5
Crew Chief: Mike Wolf
Ty Dillon made the only two starts for the RCR 3 car in 2023. Dillon made a start during throwback weekend at Darlington followed by one at Pocono. There was little of note accomplished during either start to discuss. Dillon started and ran mid-pack in both races. His best finish was 14th at Pocono.
While Ty Dillon has his supporters, it is chances like these that indicate the younger Dillon’s career struggles are more than poor equipment. Between these part time starts and his runs with JGR in 2021, Dillon has constantly underperformed. Especially in the Xfinity Series, RCR equipment should run better than mid-pack. Remember, Austin Hill won the race at Pocono. Meanwhile, Dillon spent less than half of his laps inside the Top-15.
Austin Hill – #21
2023 Stat Line:Â 33 Starts – 4 Wins, 16 Top-5s, 24 Top-10s, 3 Poles, Avg Fin 9.0
Crew Chief: Andy Street
Driver Points Ranking: 5;Â Owner Points Ranking: 5
Notable Results: 3 wins in the first 5 races of the season; Fourth win at Pocono; Advanced to Round of 8
After winning on two superspeedways last season, the big question for Austin Hill was whether he could win off the drafting tracks. While his 2022 season saw him run well at a variety of tracks, there were limited races outside the superspeedways where he felt like a top contender. With Ty Gibbs, Noah Gragson, and AJ Allmendinger departing for the Cup Series, it was a perfect opportunity to see if Hill could step up and become a top Xfinity driver.
Without a doubt, Austin Hill proved that he was one of the best Xfinity Series drivers in 2023. No one had a better start to the season than Hill. After winning the season opening race at Daytona, Hill went on to win at Las Vegas and Atlanta. In the other two races (of the first five), Hill finished 6th and 7th. His strong start definitely turned heads, as well as stirred up silly season theories. At one point during the summer, most fans had Hill penciled in at Kaulig Racing. Instead, Hill decided to reup with RCR in the Xfinity Series.
Hill’s strong start never waned too much throughout the season. Hill never had three races in a row where he finished outside the Top-10. His average finish of 9.0 was only bested by John Hunter Nemechek. Poor communication likely is the difference between Hill racing for a championship and spoiling Sheldon Creed’s JGR plans.
2023 Grade: A
Austin Hill was the second best driver in the Xfinity Series this past season. While his wins slowed after the initial flurry, his runs inside the Top-5 never ceased. In almost every statistical category, Hill ranked in the Top-2. Although 2022 foreshadowed this success a bit, how strong Hill ran this season was a bit of a surprise.
The only area Austin Hill is lacking was his laps led. For a driver with the second most wins and Top-5s, his 346 laps led seems minuscule compared to Justin Allgaier, Cole Custer, and John Hunter Nemechek. In his 4 wins, Hill only led 28.1% of the laps in those races. Takeaway Atlanta (where he led 103), that percentage drops to 14.4%. The expectations are high for Hill heading into next season. If he remains a top driver, hopefully his laps led statistic will be improved.
2024 Outlook
As mentioned earlier, Austin Hill signed an extension to remain in the RCR 21 Xfinity Series car. While the Cup Series seemed to be a natural fit for 2024, Hill will continue to chase the Xfinity Series Championship. The bare minimum goal should be to make his first Championship Four of his career (including the Truck Series). In Hill’s NASCAR career, he has put together great regular seasons but usually flounders during the playoffs. 2023 was no different, as Hill never looked as strong in the playoffs as he did before them. If this trend continues in 2024, could there be a choking narrative placed on Austin Hill?
In another piece of surprising silly season news, Beard Motorsports announced that Anthony Alfredo would be tabbed to run their first two races of the season. After last season, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that Beard Motorsports would pair with Hill again for the 2024 season. Especially considering that Hill has Cup Series aspirations, the pairing with RCR backing made a lot of sense. While Hill could still find himself in the 62 car later in the season, it is very surprising that he will not be attempting the Daytona 500 for the team.
RCR Xfinity Grade: B-
What an ugly mess to end the season. Martinsville turned into a massive black eye for RCR, especially considering the comments that Richard Childress made about Sheldon Creed. The clear favoritism for Austin Hill in that situation helps support some of Creed’s claims. What was Creed supposed to do? Lay over so Hill could win the race when potentially he did not need it? The breakup between Creed and RCR is now a storyline to watch next season, which surely is not something RCR would want.
More than the Martinsville incident, RCR missed out on the Championship Four with both drivers. While Austin Hill had a career season, Sheldon Creed still looked a clear step behind. It will be interesting to see how Jesse Love does in the 2 car next year. If it is another season of struggles, maybe RCR had the right idea of only running one fulltime entry. Still, RCR will be a title contender in 2024 with Austin Hill. A championship can ease all bad ills from this season.
For other 2023 Season in Review articles, click the link(s) below:
Griffin Fuller
- Cup: Team Penske, Wood Brothers, Stewart-Haas Racing, Trackhouse Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, 23XI Racing, RFK Racing, The Money Team/Beard Motorsports
- Xfinity: Stewart-Haas Racing, AM Racing, JR Motorsports
Robert Cwick – JTG-Daugherty, Live Fast, Front Row (Part 1), Front Row (Part 2), Legacy Motor ClubÂ
Daniel Smith (Statistical Breakdown)
- Cup: Team Penske/Wood Brothers, Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, 23XI & Legacy Motor Club, RFK/Front Row, Trackhouse/RCR, Stewart-Haas Racing, JTG/Rick Ware/Live Fast, Kaulig/Spire, Final Rankings
- Xfinity: Stewart-Haas/AM Racing, JR Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing/Sam Hunt Racing, RCR/Kaulig Racing, Big Machine/Jeremy Clements/BJ McLeod/Our Motorsports, Jordan Anderson/DGM, RSS Racing, JD Motorsports/SS Green Light Racing, Alpha Prime/Emerling-Gase, Final Rankings
- Trucks: Thorsports, GMS Racing, Niece Motorsports, TRICON Garage, McAnally-Hilgemann/Rackley W.A.R, Rev Racing/KBM, Front Row/Hattori/Halmar Friesen/AM Racing/Reaume Brother
