Coming to the white flag during Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, Ryan Sieg looked to be a sitting duck in the middle of the pack.
However, Sieg darted to the bottom of the race track in turn one to tuck in behind Sammy Smith.
It proved to be the best option as Sieg pushed Smith clear of the pack entering the tri-oval with a potential shot at victory lane. Sieg, however, didn’t have a strong enough run as he settled for second.
“The 8 in front of me was about all I could see,” Sieg said. “I was trying to do what I could do to try to get something going. I thought he (Smith) was gonna go high right there, but he didn’t block the top so I went up top and he kind of stayed down there. I was gonna go to the bottom, but Timmy Fedewa was guiding me through all that.”
The RSS Racing driver endured an up and down day, as he was forced to restart at the back of the field after a brake issue early and camera pod falling off his race car. Sieg also had damage from a previous wreck.
“From all the issues we started out with to come up second is pretty good,” Sieg said. “These are so tough. We were kind of just riding around most of the day and then tried to be there at the end and win the thing. We’ve been so good here and just haven’t been here at the very end.”
It was Sieg’s fourth runner-up result in the Xfinity Series and the second this year.
“One of these times it’s gonna be us going to victory lane, but, all in all, it was a great day for Sci Aps and Ford,” Sieg said. “We had a good car. We just have to keep it up.”