Childress Blames Creed for the Austin Hill Incident: ‘I Don’t Know Either’
I’m actually impressed because this level of hating takes a lot of dedication and investment on Childress’s part. We all know, especially after Martinsville in 2023, what Childress’s true thoughts are on the now ex-RCR driver. And, in what should be no surprise, they’ve gone back and forth since then, leading up to this quote!
So Let’s get Into it
Before Martinsville even happened, Creed had already been confirmed to leave RCR, and you can ask Tyler Reddick how Childress treats exiting drivers. Childress values loyalty and isn’t in control of his massive ego, so he takes drivers leaving extremely personally. Mix that with the intensity of the playoffs, and it was the perfect recipe to see RCR’s toxicity bubble surface. With 2 to go in the 2023 Dead On Tools 250, Austin Hill was leading with his teammate Creed behind him, both looking for a win to advance to the final 4 and have a shot at the title.
Creed in turn 3 moved Hill out of the way in a classic short track move, then all hell broke loose. That failed, so in turn one on the last lap, Creed drove into Hill’s back bumper even harder this time. Moving them both up the track, but Creed got alongside the 21. The teammates slammed doors into turn 3, causing Creed to move up the track and open the inside for the 7. Hill tried to move Creed out of the way but destroyed the front of his car instead, causing a big one as Allgaier and Creed had a photo finish. With Allgaier getting the win and Creed getting 1 of his many Xfinity runner-up finishes.
Childress Knew Immediately Who was to Blame: Creed!
After the race, Andy Petree walked up to a clearly exhausted Creed and yelled at him before walking away. With Creed yelling back, “If he would have touched me, you guys wouldn’t have said s***.” Then Austin Hill said about his friend, “I cannot wait for him to get out of RCR. Can’t wait to have Jesse Love as a teammate. Maybe he’ll work better with me.” And Childress made his opinions clear, saying, I’ve had drivers drive for me before, but nobody as stupid as Sheldon Creed.” Very rude, and many fans lost respect for Childress and his team.
It Wouldn’t be the Last Time Childress and Creed Clashed
This year at COTA, Jesse Love and Sheldon Creed traded paint off track multiple times, with Creed even driving Love off the track. Then they traded insults on social media, with Creed tweeting the caption while baiting the Childress driver, “You play stupid games, you win stupid prizes @jesselovejr1,” and Love responded by reminding him who finished ahead of whom, tweeting back, “Scoreboard buddy.” Now Childress and Sheldon Creed have crossed paths, and this time Creed didn’t even have to touch one of his cars.
In the middle of Xfinity’s latest race at Indianapolis, Aric gave Austin Hill the classic “get the hell out of my way.” The driver of the 21 took it personally! After doing a brilliant job saving the car, he right-hooked it into the 19, and they both spun out after Hill hit Creed’s front bumper. According to most people, not Childress, though. To him, Hill deserves no blame, and instead, it was Creed the whole time who hit Hill into Aric and caused the whole thing.
Final Thoughts
Interestingly enough, despite Childress’s beliefs, RCR is not going to appeal Hill’s suspension and is putting Austin Dillon in the 21 for Iowa. Perhaps he doesn’t really believe that and is trying to protect his golden boy poorly. Or considering his comments about “We’re a blue-collar team. They give us trouble all the time.”He doesn’t see the point in fighting, as NASCAR has rigged the game against him. Which isn’t true, but hey, it’s what he believes.
