NASCAR O’Reilly Series: Taylor Gray on the receiving end of trouble at Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS — A bump gone wrong ended Taylor Gray’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race early in the LiUNA! at Las Vegas.

Gray delivered a top-five caliber performance and led 21 laps until a late clash with Sheldon Creed ended his day with 52 laps remaining.

For most of the race, Gray and Creed ran close to each other. Both drivers finished inside the top ten in each stage and spent much of the afternoon battling near the front.

But their final battle of the day boiled over.

On the penultimate restart Gray surged to the lead but gave it up about 20 laps later to Corey Day.

Even after losing the top spot, Gray’s Toyota Supra looked quicker on long runs and stayed within a car length of Day’s Chevrolet.

Creed soon caught them, forming a three-car breakaway at the front.

On lap 148, the three accordioned heading into turn three. As Creed closed in, Gray moved down to block. Creed clipped Gray’s left-rear bumper, sending the No. 54 up the track and into the wall after failing to save the car.

Under caution a frustrated Gray wasted little time in letting Creed know how he felt. He marched his car in front Creed’s and delivered a one-finger salute.

While Gray showed emotion on the track, he cooled down for his interview and commented on the wreck without anger after the retirement.

Creed took the blame for the incident during his post-race interview.

Creed Takes Blame

“I don’t know if he necessarily did anything wrong,” Creed said. “I was just working on getting runs off of two and got there a couple times, and then he went to block a little bit. I just got into him. I was trying to pack some air… I didn’t realize he was that close to the 17.”

He conclude with a final resolution, “I could’ve cut him more of a break there and I didn’t. That’s not the way I wanted to race him.”

Even with the drama, Creed’s strong start to the season continued.

He left Las Vegas fourth in the standings, 83 points above the cutline heading into Darlington.

Despite the DNF in 37th, Gray salvaged valuable stage points. His 15 points ranked third-most on the day and lifted him back into the final Chase spot six points above the cutline.

Whether the two move on from Las Vegas or carry the tension to Darlington remains to be seen, but there are many races left in the season where Gray could retaliate.