XFINITY: Sheldon Creed, Brennan Poole Walk Away From Frightening Crash

Sheldon Creed stands by his wrecked No. 00 Haas Factory Team Ford after a scary crash in Saturday's NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Bristol. | Randy Sartin-Imagn Images

Sheldon Creed and Brennan Poole saw their hopes of a $100,000 Xfinity Dash 4 Cash payday vaporize in a hard crash on Lap 75 of Saturday's NASCAR Xfinity Series SciAps 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway. But the fact that both drivers were able to walk away from the carnage that they endured is all that matters.

Creed, who was running 15th on Lap 765, received a tap from behind from Sam Hunt Racing's Rookie of the Year contender Dean Thompson. That contact sent Creed spinning out on the exit of Turn 4, and as the field of hungry drivers approached Creed, the driver of the No. 00 Haas Factory Team Ford Mustang Dark Horse was staring directly at them as his driver's side door was perpendicular to the oncoming traffic.

As Thompson and others avoided colliding with Creed, Poole, driving the No. 44 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet couldn't.

Poole would slam into the driver's side front corner of Creed's car, which would sheer the left side off of Creed's car and would do the same to the right side of Poole's car. Amid the chaos, a rear wheel, hub, and suspension components from the right front of Poole's car were ripped from the machine in the crash.

Scary moment as #Dash4Cash drivers @sheldoncreed and @brennanpoole collide.

Both drivers were able to walk away from their cars. pic.twitter.com/E8q4kXYVOJ

— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) April 12, 2025

After a few anxious moments of waiting, both drivers were able to climb from their mangled race cars. As Creed climbed from his No. 00 car, it rolled on its own back down into the pit road wall on the Bristol Motor Speedway frontstretch.

The wicked crash, which scattered debris, and fluid from both cars across the track, led to a 14-minute, and eight-second red flag stoppage in the race.

After being evaluated and released from the infield care center at Bristol Motor Speedway, Creed explained that he had the wind knocked out of his lungs, and it took him a moment to regain his composure after the hard crash.

"Happy to be OK and we'll fight on next week."@sheldoncreed reacts to his Stage 1 crash. pic.twitter.com/jOgnXcr66b

— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) April 12, 2025

"Yeah, I feel fine. It knocked the air out of me there for a second," Creed said.

Creed said as he was attempting to catch Jeb Burton for the free pass position, as both drivers had recently been placed a lap down by race leader Kyle Larson, he said he noticed the way Larson was getting around the track, which he had incorporated into the way he was driving his No. 00 car.

"I mean, [Burton] was the lucky dog at the moment, and he was doing a really good job of holding onto that, and I was just trying to play with things," Creed explained. "I was clearly free at the moment, just trying to search. I saw [Kyle Larson] diamond [the corner] when he was lapping us, and I felt like it worked pretty good, so I went and tried to work that into my line."

As Creed was trying to recover from losing a lap early in the race, he began to feel some aggressive shoves from Dean Thompson behind him. Finally, one of the nudges was hard enough to send Creed spinning from the 15th position.

"Just, I don't know, [Thompson] had gotten me a few times by then, but then just got me enough there," Creed said. "Unfortunate for our Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Ford Mustang. I'm bummed for all of our guys to be taken out in Stage 1 like that, but happy to be okay, and fight on next week."

Poole, who was the driver who collided with Creed, which caused the massive damage to both cars, says he was told by his spotter to slow down, which he did, but he had no clue where Creed's car was sitting due to the high banking in Turn 4 at the 0.533-mile short track.

"Yeah, it was just tough. I was in the top lane, and I was already back into the gas. [Branden Lines], my spotter said, 'Check up, check up, check-up,' the way the banking is here, I couldn't even see where [Creed] was at yet," Poole stated. "So, I just started slowing down, and he was right in the middle of the track. So, then I started to just spin out, and I nailed him. Just kind of unfortunate. I hate that [Thompson] turned him around, I hate that two Dash 4 Cash cars got into it."

Creed admits when he initially spun out, and saw a couple of drivers successfully avoid him, he felt he might get lucky and not get clocked by a competitor. Then Poole came through, and got him. But Creed didn't issue blame to Poole as he understands things happen very quickly at the World's Fastest Half Mile.

"When the first guy missed me, I was like, 'Oh, I might not get hit at all,' and then yeah, just got hit. It just happens so quickly here," Creed said. "And for Brennan's sake, it happens quickly, and I was just sitting in the middle of the track. What do you do?"

Due to the massive crash, Creed will be credited with a 37th-place finish, while Poole, who skidded past the start finish line in the wreckage, will be scored with a 36th-place finish in Saturday's NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Bristol. But again, thankfully both drivers were able to walk away from the frightening crash.