NASCAR dirt racing knocked in multiple Creed interviews; Some drivers were not happy after Knoxville Raceway
On Friday night, NASCAR entered new territory. Knoxville Raceway, a half-mile dirt track in Knoxville, Iowa hosted their first NASCAR Truck Series event in history.
Previously, NASCAR visited Eldora Speedway. This is only the second dirt track to be explored with the NASCAR Truck Series.
The opening two stages were really good. Fans saw a great example of dirt track racing.
But, for the most part, it’s rare to see a dirt race of any kind, over a 100 laps in length. There’s good reason for that, dirt tracks take rubber, in time.
For most of stage three of the 150 lap race, the enter field was fighting for the bottom lane in turn one on restarts. It created situations were 2nd place dropped to 10th after one lap of struggling to get to the bottom lane.
The closing laps of the race, took a lifetime. Multiple NASCAR overtime attempts were made.
In NASCAR, the race ends under the green flag. However, an overtime restart must include the white flag as well.
It took four attempts to make it happen. Multiple crashes took place on the first lap of an overtime finish.
In the first of those attempts, 10+ trucks were collected in a pileup. Jake Griffin stepped on the gas and his rear end jumped out. At the same time, Donny Schatz pushed on his rear bumper. Griffin was sideways, in front of the field, before the start finish line.
The field had nowhere to go. As they piled into the scene, many were put out of their misery.
Trucks involved: Griffin, Schatz, Briscoe, Purdy, Creed, Erickson, Rohrbaugh, Benning, Gray, Berry, Rouse, Deegan, Windom and Noland.
Related: Knoxville race results from July 9, 2021 (NASCAR Truck Series)
Sheldon Creed comments after NASCAR’s newest dirt track
“I mean, the first 25 laps were so much fun. You could move around, there was a race track.” Sheldon Creed told Fox Sports.
“Then, we struggled there a little bit in the middle. I made a lot of ground then kinda fell back.”
“You didn’t want to start on the top. I had issues with the No. 19, like three different times. Kept moving my way back forward. Just try to keep my head down and not get frustrated with people.”
“I was 6th there with like 10 to go. I don’t know where the No. 22 was going. I think he was going to win the race from 8th. We all wrecked.”
“Knoxville fans are awesome. But, we don’t belong here. We should be down at Iowa Speedway, what these trucks were made for.”
Related: Knoxville Raceway promoter – NASCAR dirt race discussion (2017)
Creed added
“I love dirt racing, I love the heat races. I thought the heat races raced good, the first 30 laps of the race were awesome,” Creed added in an interview with Matt Weaver.
“But, for it to race better, we need to figure out something with radiators. Maybe put them in the back or something like an off-road truck.”
“And, get rid of the windshields. Just so we can race on a wet track in the beginning. It gets soft, rough and we can move around.”
“When it just goes one line like that, no one has respect for each other. I don’t know how many times I moved myself back into the top 8. I was just getting booted on restarts.”
“A few guys did it to me good. The No. 38 gave it to me, pushed me out of the way, I’m like, ‘Alright, you can have it.’ But, the No. 19 drove into me like three different times and I finally moved up. The no. 22 there drove into me, I’m like, ‘Where you going? We’re running 6th and 8th We’re not going to go anywhere on the top.’ “
“Honestly, it’s so dumb. They’re going to the NASCAR hauler because they wrecked the No. 19 after the race. You can’t even be mad when you get driven like that all night.”
Creed talks Iowa Speedway, Knoxville and Eldora
Typically, dirt races have track prep throughout the night. It allows the track to maintain multiple groves through a long night of racing. NASCAR did it after heat races but they only put water on the top groove, doing nothing to the bottom lane which took rubber on lap 80.
Creed added, “I had to be that person back, a few times. I don’t like racing like that, it;s juts dumb. Not that we shouldn’t be here. I think there’s a better way to do it. I think Eldora raced really good. You could run the top, do slidejobs. The bottom was an option.”
“But here, you’re just fighting for the bottom and it didn’t race good. And, I think we should go to Iowa Speedway. That place races so good, you can run all over it. Apparently, they don’t like that cause we’re going to ruin Atlanta too.”
Related: Tony Stewart frustrated Bristol got the NASCAR Cup Series dirt race instead of Eldora
