A historic breakthrough: The NASCAR odyssey of Ryan Sieg
What exactly is an odyssey? According to Merriam-Webster, it's "a long wandering or voyage usually marked by many changes of fortune." That's essentially the NASCAR career for Ryan Sieg of RSS Racing, one of the few small, family-owned and operated race teams still competing at a high level in NASCAR. Sieg's NASCAR career began with a Truck Series debut in 2009, racing at Martinsville. Since ...…
The NASCAR career of Ryan Sieg, a driver from RSS Racing, is an odyssey marked by numerous challenges and changes of fortune. His professional journey began in 2009 with a debut in the Truck Series at Martinsville, and since then, he has participated in 538 races across all three divisions of NASCAR. However, it wasn't until this past weekend that he finally secured his first victory in the NASCAR O Reilly Auto Parts Series, a milestone that had eluded him for 17 years since his debut.
Sieg has earned 24 top fives, 81 top tens, and led over 500 laps throughout his career. A turning point in his journey came with his first-ever pole at Iowa, and a runner-up finish at Iowa in 2017, just 1.1 seconds behind William Byron. Tragedy struck the Sieg family when his older brother Shane, a former NASCAR driver, passed away at the age of 34.
Despite this loss, the family continued racing. The runner-up finish at Talladega in 2020 marked another low, but Sieg's perseverance paid off in Las Vegas 2024, where he again finished second. His most recent victory came at Daytona, where he led the final two laps and crossed the finish line first, making it the most starts ever before a driver's first NASCAR O Reilly win in the history of the division.
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