Creeden & Lord Team Celebrated First Big Win Together

“Charlie (Lord) needed this one,” Creeden said of his car owner. Creeden was driving one of Lord’s cars in February when he crashed heavily in Volusia Park Speedway, demolishing the car and injuring himself.

“Charlie is a great guy, works his tail off on the race cars. He and I gel. We work well together. He has good equipment. He brought the car to my shop this morning, made a couple of minor changes and the car was perfect.”

Creeden acknowledged that track position was a key to victory tonight. “Our draws were good tonight and that helped.” Creeden said his ability to put several cars a lap down and between himself and his pursuers was a critical component in this race.

“When I caught the back of the field I was getting a little nervous. I couldn’t go anywhere. Then Donnie (spotter Don Elliott) suggested I try the top to go around them. Tried that once in (turns) one and two and almost wound up in Donnie’s parking lot. (Elliott’s automotive business is on Wisner Avenue, across from the speedway).

“I knew from that I’d have to use the bottom to get by the slower cars. One of them (Josh Allen) slipped up off (turn) two and I got by. Then I got the 22 (Mike Engwer). Once I was there, I felt comfortable again.”

Creeden wasn’t going to move off the bottom after trying out what spotter Elliott had suggested no matter what. “I gave a race away Friday at Accord by changing lanes,” Creeden shared.

Creeden’s weekend box score was was two feature wins and a second, and three heat race wins, achieved with three different car owners. At Accord Friday, Creeden finished second in the Modified feature in Tom Grosso’s No. 19, used his own No. 16X to win at Afton Motorsports Park on Saturday, then won Sunday at OCFS in Lord’s 10.

“Probably the best weekend of my career,” he bottom-lined. Winning for car owner Lord Sunday at Orange County was most important for Creeden. “He really is excited, he deserved a win.” Lord, 78, who lives in Canestota, NY, 30 miles east of Syracuse, said he was counting down the laps. “He’s my guy,” Lord praised. “He worked the lapped cars perfectly. This is great feeling.”

Lord recalled some of the unpleasantness that Creeden and his team endured in Florida this past February when Creeden demolished Lord’s car and put himself, briefly, in the hospital. “Danny didn’t want to driven back to New York with us, didn’t want to endure the long ride so he and his wife flew home. The doctor wasn’t happy about that at all, but Danny’s Danny,” Lord said.

“I met Danny three years ago through Tanner VanDoren, who used to drive for me. Danny had helped us out on some things. He and I talked at the Syracuse Motorsports show, told him I had a big block and asked him to drive it, which he has,” Lord explained.

Lord said the Florida crash gave him a lot to think about. “A crash like that when your driver gets hurt is a difficult thing for a car owner to experience. We were all worried about him. It’s something I never want to go through again. The cage took a hard hit, Danny did too. We were lucky to an extent in that the motor and drive train were not damaged, though the rear was bent and the front end was broken in half. The frame was bent,” Lord said.

The race winning car is a 2021 Bicknell, replacing the newer 2024 version that was trashed at Volusia. Before the start of the feature and after Creeden picked the pole starting spot, Lord offered a pre-race prediction: “If he can get out front quick, I think he can win it.” In this he was right on target.