NASCAR Truck Series Drivers' Rivalry Heats up at Daytona Road Course

Friday night, the NASCAR Camping World Trucks Series headed to the Daytona Road Course for the [...]

By John Newby

Friday night, the NASCAR Camping World Trucks Series headed to the Daytona Road Course for the second time. The race started in the rain and featured numerous on-track incidents, including a late collision between Sheldon Creed and Ben Rhodes. This incident helped Rhodes win his second consecutive race and only further fueled the rivalry between the two drivers.

An incident occurred during the first of three overtime segments on Friday night. Creed had the lead, but Rhodes bumped him out of the way. Rhodes remained in the lead and was within mere feet of seeing the white flag wave that marked only one lap remaining in the race. However, an incident involving other drivers brought out the yellow and added another overtime segment. Though Rhodes ultimately won and went back-to-back at Daytona.

"I was actually not very happy with that," Creed said after the race. "I feel like I passed him for the lead really cleanly and left him room and gave him respect, and he just drove into me in [Turn] 1 on the restart. I don't know. I'll remember that down the road when we're racing hard again, and he might be on the other end of that deal. I don't know. Frustrated to run second, I guess."

Rhodes responded to his rival driver after the race, providing his side of the story. He said that he was "going to choose" his words carefully before saying that Creed tried to run him off the track on the straightaway. Rhodes then discussed several other incidents during that race that featured him and Creed.

"We're all slipping and sliding out of control in Turn 1," Rhodes said. "I mean, two times down the chute from [Turns] 3 to 4, he tried to run me off the track and then did it from [Turns] 5 to 6. And let's not forget that at Eldora [Speedway] in 2019, the guy did door-slam me into the wall and total a truck at Eldora for seventh place. So, this is a win, and I didn't total his truck out, nor did I wreck him, so I don't know what his problem is, but he can get over it."

There is a history of conflict between Rhodes and Creed, resulting in a growing rivalry. The two men will continue to face off on the track while the viewers anticipate fireworks. They will resume this rivalry on March 5 with the Bucked Up 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

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