Our hearts broke for Ryan Sieg last Saturday (April 13).
As I watched the end of the race at Texas Motor Speedway, I joined race fans everywhere in holding my breath as Sieg and Sam Mayer crossed the finish line.
He did it! Did he do it? Did he finally pull it off? Oh no.
Replay showed that Mayer beat Sieg to the line by about an inch. 0.002 seconds was the official margin of victory, one of the closest finishes in NASCAR history.
Nothing against Mayer, but it’s common to root for an upset. The story of David and Goliath is one of the most known from the Bible for good reason. We want to see someone persevere through disadvantages, do more with less, and beat the people who have more money, more horsepower, more muscle, more connections, more star power – choose your more.
Sieg is an underdog. He is more David than Goliath. But he’s pushed the boundaries of what an underdog is supposed to do for years. After 342 winless NASCAR Xfinity Series races, there is no doubt he’s put in his time. He’s part of a family-owned team, RSS Racing, that has been competing in Xfinity since 2013. During its tenure, Sieg has gone from being a 26-year-old rookie to a 37-year-old veteran and mentor of his younger brother Kyle Sieg, who also drives for the family team.
The elder Sieg brother began running full-time in the series in 2014 and has not missed a race since. During that run, some underdogs with longer odds than Sieg have made it to victory lane. In 2017, Jeremy Clements shocked the world by winning at Road America. Clements had actually given Sieg his first opportunity in Xfinity, driving his No. 51 Chevrolet in 2013 during a suspension. By the time Clements won that race, Sieg was usually running ahead of him. Sieg made the playoffs in 2016 on the way to finishing ninth in the final standings, beating Brandon Jones and Bubba Wallace. Clements had to settle for 15th.
After the playoff run in 2016, Sieg wasn’t as successful in 2017 or 2018. He missed the playoffs in both seasons and only had two top 10s. He did score his best career finish in 2017 though, at Iowa Speedway. He had run around 15th most of the day before a timely caution trapped several contenders a lap down and gave Sieg a chance to win. On the final restart he was able to briefly nose ahead of William Byron in turn 3, but…
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