CUP: Ryan Sieg’s damage much worse than it first appeared in Chicago, ending his race early

by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Ryan Sieg picked up the 3rd last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s The Loop 110 at the Chicago Street Course when his #39 Sci Aps Ford fell out due to a crash after 5 of 50 laps.

The finish, which came in Sieg’s 385th series start, was his first of the season and first in a XFINITY Series race since October 15, 2022 at Las Vegas, 87 races ago. In the XFINITY Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 11th for the #39, the 175th for Ford, and the 412th from a crash. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 22nd for the #39, the 1,069th for Ford, and the 1,425th for a crash.

In the nearly three years since he was last featured on this site, Ryan Sieg’s search for an elusive first career NASCAR XFINITY Series victory has come tantalizingly close to ending. There was Texas last April, where he charged through the field into the lead, only to be caught by Sam Mayer, who prevailed in a fender-bending photo finish. There was Las Vegas in the fall, where he ran fast all night and was leading when A.J. Allmendinger caught him with nine laps to go. And then there was Rockingham this past April, where Sieg led a career-high 77 laps, only to lose the lead while saving fuel, then getting caught up in someone else’s wreck.

In that time, Ryan’s younger brother Kyle Sieg has also shown flashes of brilliance in the #28 Ford, particularly on the superspeedways, where he’s scored a top-ten finish in each of the last four consecutive seasons, including Atlanta just last week. RSS Racing has also scored its first win at Sears Point in 2023, though with a Stewart-Haas Racing chassis and Cup veteran Aric Almirola behind the wheel. But that moment did little to quell the Sieg brothers’ thirst for victory.

The quest continued in Chicago, where Ryan Sieg had finished 25th in 2023 and 16th last year. His was one of 40 drivers entered for 38 spots, setting up an intense qualifying session on a warm Chicago afternoon. But an ignition issue prevented Sieg from turning a lap in both practice and qualifying. Thanks to his rank in Owner Points, he remained locked-into the field, but would line up 37th in the field of 38 and incur a redundant tail-end penalty for unapproved adjustments prior to the start.

Failing to qualify were Kris Wright, whose #5 First National Bank Corp Chevrolet turned the slowest lap of the session, and Sage Karam, whose #53 Flood Brothers Toyota snapped an oil pump belt in practice, causing his car to sputter around the track with smoke trailing from behind. Andre Castro, Karam’s teammate at Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen, carried Karam’s logos on his white #35 Chevrolet, which up to that point had no primary sponsorship.

The 38th and final starting spot went to Christian Eckes, who during practice overshot the entry to Turn 6 and slammed the outside wall with the right side. This sent him to a backup #16 Benesch Law Chevrolet, one of two unloaded after the session. The other belonged to 36th-place Taylor Gray, whose #54 Operation 300 Toyota crashed in Turn 4 – first with the left-rear into the tires, then the left-front into the concrete wall. Both cars were flat white with few decals, the result of a compressed two-day schedule for XFINITY and Cup.

Both Eckes and Gray’s backup cars incurred tail-end penalties along with the following drivers for unapproved adjustments: 18th-place Matt DiBenedetto in the #99 Royal Oak Leprechauns Chevrolet, 20th-place Thomas Annunziata in the #70 Bayshore Mortgage Chevrolet (dropped debris near the end of practice), 28th-place Anthony Alfredo in the #42 Dude Wipes Chevrolet (stopped on track early with a fluid leak), and 37th-place Connor Zilisch in the #88 Red Bull / WeatherTech Chevrolet (car repaired after he struck the Turn 2 wall in practice, resulting in an asymmetrical wrap).

It took NASCAR so much time to reorganize the tail end of the field that another pace lap was needed. Ultimately, the right-hand line was trailed by DiBenedetto, Annunziata, Alfredo, Gray, and Eckes while the left saw Zilisch and Sieg in the final two spots. Alfredo just slotted in line in front of Gray before the green flag dropped.

Eckes remained last across the stripe, 9.009 seconds back of the lead to 37th-place Gray’s 8.745 and 36th-place Sieg’s 8.185. “All clear, nobody out back,” said his spotter. By the end of Lap 2, the field had unspooled enough that Eckes was 19.041 seconds back of the lead on Lap 2, then 23.003 on Lap 3. By then, he was catching new 37th-place runner Castro, who he caught and passed by Lap 4. By the time he did, that was now a battle for 36th as another driver fell to last.

On Lap 4, Sieg ran wide exiting Turn 10 while racing Anthony Alfredo and slapped the outside wall with the left-rear, resulting in a fender rub with part of the bodywork dangling off the left-rear corner of his car. He made it to pit road for repairs, where he took the last spot and also became the first driver to lose a lap. The crew worked on clearing the fender, then bolted on the left-rear tire and sent him back out to avoid losing a second lap. They then received a well-timed caution when Sammy Smith sent Jack Perkins’ #19 Shaw and Partners Toyota rear-first into the tire barrier at Turn 6. The caution would have put Sieg back on the lead lap, but the team discovered the track bar had broken, causing the rear of the car to move around. He pulled behind the wall, done for the day, without ever climbing out of last place.

Finishing 37th was William Sawalich, who stopped his #18 Starkey Toyota on track and climbed out due to an electrical fire in the dashboard. When the flames went out, he climbed back in and made it to pit road, only for the team to push him behind the wall. Josh Bilicki encountered the same issue after 26 laps when his #91 Lifeway Kefir Chevrolet stopped on track just before a restart. Out on the same lap was Anthony Alfredo, whose issues from practice may have resurfaced when he pulled down pit road and the crew lifted the hood. Taylor Gray’s backup car rounded out the Bottom Five after he suffered damage colliding with the wrecked Thomas Annunziata, blocking the track for a fast-closing Andre Castro. Castro’s race ended a few laps later when he slid into the tire barriers at Turn 6, placing him outside the Bottom Five in 33rd.

Poole and Labbe close out strong in Chicago

While Austin Green continued his run of strong road course performances with a 9th-place finish in Jordan Anderson’s #32 Volpi Chevrolet, one spot behind came Brennan Poole, whose #44 Toxic Waste Chevrolet scored its first top-ten finish since Rockingham in April. The finish, which came in Poole’s 175th series start, was easily his best finish at the Chicago Street Course, where he’d previously come home 26th in 2023 and 20th last year. Two spots behind in 12th came Alex Labbe, who bounced back from his last-place run in his Truck Series debut last week in Lime Rock to take home 12th in SS-Green Light Racing’s #07 Priority Tire Chevrolet. For Labbe, it was his best XFINITY Series finish since August 12, 2023, when he came home 11th on the Indianapolis Grand Prix Circuit.

LASTCAR STATISICS

*These first three XFINITY races at Chicago have seen one last-place finish for each manufacturer: Chevrolet, Toyota, and now Ford. All three have completed no more than five laps in their respective race.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

38) #39-Ryan Sieg / 5 laps / crash

37) #18-William Sawalich / 7 laps / electrical

36) #42-Anthony Alfredo / 26 laps / engine

35) #91-Josh Bilicki / 26 laps / electrical

34) #54-Taylor Gray / 38 laps / dvp

2025 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Kaulig Racing (5)

2nd) Joe Gibbs Racing (4)

3rd) Sam Hunt Racing (2)

4th) Alpha Prime Racing, Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen, JR Motorsports, Our Motorsports, RSS Racing, SS-Green Light Racing, Young’s Motorsports (1)

2025 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (11)

2nd) Toyota (6)

3rd) Ford (1)

2025 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP