There is a solid thing about leading a championship: usually, it is the part of the season when a driver starts worrying less about his future. Sheldon Creed has had plenty to worry about in the past. Fifteen times, he finished second in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series without winning. A long time of near misses. In 2026, he finally made it to the winner’s lane. Three times, in fact.
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Now Sheldon Creed is sitting at the top of the championship standings, with three wins, 12 top-fives and 19 top-tens through 27 races. He’s put together an impressive season. Yet, instead of asking whether Creed can win, people are asking whether anyone can stop him from winning the title. He entered the latest stretch of the Chase 11 points ahead of Justin Allgaier. And while Creed was doing all of that in a Haas Factory Team Chevrolet, his 2027 future was moving somewhere else.
Sheldon Creed will leave Haas after the season and join Sam Hunt Racing, taking over the No. 26 Toyota on a multi-year deal. The strange part is who is moving in the opposite direction. Dean Thompson, the driver Creed is replacing at SHR, is heading to Haas.
So the offseason has produced something NASCAR does not get every day: a driver swap that looks almost too neat to be real. But the swap itself is not even the most interesting part. Haas had already announced Thompson in August, when it revealed plans to expand to three full-time O’Reilly cars in 2027.
At that point, Thompson was not being presented as Sheldon Creed’s replacement. Creed was still in the No. 00, Sam Mayer was still in the No. 41, and Thompson was supposed to be the third piece of the expansion. Then the pieces started falling out.
Mayer announced his return to JR Motorsports. Creed is now going to SHR. Haas still gets its three-car program, but two of the drivers who built its 2026 lineup will not be there to drive it. That is why this has turned into more than a routine silly-season announcement.
There is no public explanation for exactly why Haas and Creed are parting ways. There is also nothing in the results suggesting Sheldon Creed forced the issue by having a bad season. Quite the opposite. Every one of his O’Reilly Series wins has come in 2026, his first wins after 15 career runner-up finishes. He is also an eight-time Truck Series winner and the 2020 Truck Series champion.
Creed’s own reaction did not exactly sound bitter. He spoke highly of what Sam Hunt Racing has built and said he wanted to help take the organization forward, but his immediate goal remained winning the championship with Haas.
That distinction is important because it leaves the central question hanging over the whole deal: if Creed is good enough to lead the championship, what changed? And the fans on social media were also invested in this discussion.
“Dude is damn leading the points with a real shot to give Haas a championship and they are stupid enough to get rid of him? Also – what a massive downgrade for Creed,” wrote a fan.
Another fan expanded on the same point, saying: “You can stop scrolling. This is the dumbest thing you’re going to read today. Haas should be giving him a Cup seat but instead they are sending him packing.”
The Cup part needs some context. Haas Factory Team has one full-time Cup entry, the No. 41 driven by Cole Custer, so there was not an announced second Cup seat waiting for Creed.
But the frustration behind the comment is this: Creed’s performance was an issue. In 2026, though, he finally put the whole thing together, and now, ironically, he is the one changing teams.
“Haas is run by incompetent MORONS,” one fan wrote.
Another focused on the driver Haas is bringing in: “Imagine letting creed and mayer walk but signing ‘dean thompson’ that’s insane.”
Then came the comment that probably captures the confusion better than anything else: “expand to a 3 car team / loses sam mayer / loses sheldon creed / acquires dean thompson / what is this strategy called”
Thompson, to be fair, is not some random name Haas pulled out of a hat. He had 57 O’Reilly Series starts when his signing was announced, along with one top five and 10 top tens, and Haas clearly sees development potential in him. He also comes with sponsorship from Thompson Pipe Group and MCM Transportation.
That sponsorship has already fueled another theory from fans: “You guys might be the most idiotic team in history. Letting both of your drivers go for daddy’s money drivers. 😂”
There is no public evidence proving that sponsorship was the reason Haas chose Thompson over Sheldon Creed. That part remains fan speculation. What is not speculation is the sequence of events. Haas is expanding to three cars. Mayer is leaving. Creed, the championship leader, is leaving. Thompson is coming in.
Maybe there is a perfectly logical explanation sitting inside a contract or a business meeting that fans will never see. NASCAR teams make decisions around sponsorship, manufacturer relationships, development plans, and long-term strategy that do not always show up in the standings.
For now, though, the strangest part of this silly-season puzzle is sitting right at the top of the points table. Sheldon Creed finally stopped finishing second. And somehow, he still ended up being the one looking for a new ride.