SAN DIEGO — Alpine native Sheldon Creed was at the peak of the truck racing circle in 2020, but that was a long time ago in the racing circuit.

He now enters the 2021 Truck Series Playoffs as one of only 10 drivers remaining — and so far this year, Creed has only finished in first place once.

“Would love to back up our title and bring another championship home to GMS and Chevrolet, but it’s so easy to say that right?” Creed said. “It’s a lot of work behind-the-scenes and it’s going to take a lot of work to win and get our way in there.”

Currently, Creed is ranked fifth in the NASCAR Truck Series. He was nicknamed “The Showstopper” because according to the 23-year-old, he somehow always finds a way to make it to the front. 

“A lot of the time I was starting last, if not one of those back positions, and towards the end of the race I’d always get myself to the front battling for race wins,” Creed said. “So yeah, that’s where it came from.” 

Creed’s goals stretch beyond just this truck series circuit as he hopes to climb the NASCAR ladder and someday race in the Xfinity and Cup Series.

“I’ve talked with so many different teams,” Creed said. “It’s been really fun, at times, and really difficult and frustrating as well. There’s just not the funding that there used to be, but hoping we can figure something out to run Xfinity.”

The Nascar Truck Series Playoffs begins with the World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois this Friday at 6 p.m. For more on Creed, see the video in our media player above.