Sheldon Creed’s hood pops up after crash at Darlington; Kyle Larson edges John Hunter Nemechek for victory

Sheldon Creed was looking to pick up the first NASCAR Xfinity Series win of his career on Saturday at Darlington Raceway in the Shiners Children’s 200 but got caught up in a massive wreck.

Creed battled John Hunter Nemechek for position around Lap 67 in Stage 2. He tried to pass Nemechek on the left side but slid back up the track and got loose coming around the turn. He spun out and caused a massive crash. Creed came back down toward the apron and hit Brandon Jones. It caused his hood to flap up and cover his windshield.

Jones, Ryan Truex, Chandler Smith and Ryan Ellis were among those who were taken to the infield care center and released.

“Two weeks in a row, two dumb decisions. Pretty simple need to clean it up,” Creed tweeted afterward.

Creed’s best finish this season came at Talladega, where he finished in second place. He was 11th last week at Dover and finished in 25th at Darlington.

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Kyle Larson won the race as he fought off Nemechek in the end. The two bumped and battled their way to the finish line but it was Larson who ended up in first place. Nemechek spun out on the front stretch and wrecked. He finished in fifth place.

“Every time you get to come to Darlington, it’s special,” Larson said after the Xfinity race.

He will be a part of a Sunday brunch before the NASCAR race kicks off. NASCAR will honor 33 of the 75 all-time greats at the event.

“You’ll get to see legends and Hall of Famers and everybody who’s still alive on the 75 list,” he added. “I really look forward to that. I think it’s going to be a special kind of thing and morning for me that I’ll probably never forget.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.