O’REILLY: Kyle Sieg cites “driver error” as reason for early engine trouble in demanding Coronado race

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

Kyle Sieg picked up the 4th last-place finish of his NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series career in Saturday’s United Rentals Driven to Serve 250 at Naval Base Coronado when his #28 VETS Ending Veteran Suicide / Black Rifle Coffee Company (BRCC) Chevrolet lost the engine after 28 of 60 laps.

The finish, which came in Sieg’s 132nd series start, was his second of the year, his first since February 21st at Atlanta, 16 races ago. In the O’Reilly last-place rankings, it was the 18th for the #28, the 293rd from engine issues, and the 693rd for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 46th for the #28, the 1,165th from engine trouble, and the 2,049th for Chevrolet.

In this first season of RSS Racing’s return to Chevrolet in continued partnership with the Haas Factory Team and Hendrick engines, Kyle Sieg has struggled to finish in the Top 20. Entering Saturday’s race, he’s failed to finish five of the first 17 races, leaving him just 27th in points. His best run of the season came at Las Vegas this past spring, where he turned in a 14th-place showing.

In conjunction with NASCAR’s first race weekend on an active naval base, Kyle Sieg carried sponsorship from the VETS Foundation and their efforts to understand and combat the incidence of suicide among veterans. Sieg wore a special camouflage uniform to go with the promotion. Among the 37 entrants, Sieg ran 25th in opening practice with a lap of 140.798mph (86.933 seconds). His car ranked sixth in the qualifying order, and in Qualifying Round 1A ranked 13th of 19 drivers with a lap of 139.520 seconds (87.729mph), good enough for 29th on the starting grid.

Securing the 37th and final starting spot was the #2 Distributor Wire & Cable Chevrolet of Jesse Love, who ran 8th-fastest in practice, but incurred a penalty for nonconforming lug nuts that failed to meet minimum size specifications. This prevented Love from qualifying, incurred him a redundant tail-end penalty, and handed him a pass-through penalty to be served after he took the green flag.

*Day grinds his way through the O’Reilly garage after his practice crash.*

Joining Love in the back were two drivers sent to backup cars after separate crashes in Friday’s practice. Brandon Jones was first to wreck his #20 Menards / Little Giant Toyota followed by Corey Day who ran his Charlotte paint scheme on the #17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet. Jones suffered damage to the left-front while Day struck the wall with the right-front. Both were sent to plain white backup cars that were minimally decaled and conservatively driven in qualifying, placing Jones 33rd behind Day in 31st. Also docked for unapproved adjustments were 16th-place qualifier Justin Allgaier, who glanced off the Turn 16 wall while qualifying his #7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet, and 30th-place qualifier Andrew Patterson in the #32 WinSupply Chevrolet.

*Love starts last on the field, set to perform a pass-through after the start.*

When the green flag dropped, the last spot fell to Dawson Cram in the Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen / Mike Harmon Racing collaborative effort, the same car once driven by Devin Jones at the Charlotte Roval in 2023, with the remnants of Jones’ sponsor Verinext still visible. This time, Cram acquired sponsorship from both Plus1 Tennis Academy and MaiTai International Charters – the latter requiring a handwritten “Please Drink Responsibility” sticker to be added even though it’s not an alcohol sponsor. Like many of the small teams in the field, Cram was advised to keep his car in one piece so he could race it again in next Saturday’s event at Sears Point. To this end, all three Gase cars dropped behind Love for the start. Cram held the last spot based on intervals at 6.976 seconds back of the lead. Now 36th was Gase himself in the #53 Rumble Chevrolet (6.498), then 35th-place Brad Perez in the #55 Sacred Dose Energy Pouches Toyota (6.292).

*A track official holds the sewer cover that stuck in the grille of Day’s car*

Meanwhile, Corey Day’s backup car had crossed the line in 33rd, and was already six-tenths of a second ahead of 34th-place Love when he crossed the stripe. But seconds later, another catastrophe – on the backstretch around Turns 6 and 7, the splitter of Day’s car scooped up a roughly two-foot wide metal cover from a welded sewer grate that had come loose, sending the cover smashing into the radiator. Day’s car started spraying oil and water down the track, coating the white rear bumper cover of his car and forcing the caution flag just moments after the leaders exited the final turn of the course for the first time. Day made it to pit road, where the crew retrieved the cover from inside the nose of the car. This lid was then handed to an official who used it to flag down a passing equipment truck. He then handed the lid to the passenger, who rode out to the spot for the lid to be reattached. Moments later, Day’s crew pushed the car behind the wall, apparently headed to their second-straight last-place finish and an early lead in the 2026 LASTCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series standings. Up to this point, the preferred entrance was on the Turn 1 side between Stalls 7 and 8, offering the narrowest path through pedestrian traffic into the garage. Day was pitted in Stall 33, which did also have an opening, but one fenced off as it would require a car to cross a large fan zone diagonally. Still, the gate was opened, preventing the car from trailing oil across most of pit road.

*Repairs begin on Day’s car in the O’Reilly garage*

By the time Day’s car reached the garage, the driver was no longer behind the wheel. The team got the car on jack stands, removed the front wheels, and removed and replaced both the radiator and oil pan. Ordinarily, a ruptured radiator would have ended Day’s afternoon as teams aren’t allowed to change them anymore. But since this was the result of a track failure, NASCAR allowed the repairs. Several NASCAR officials stood around the right-front corner of the car, keeping much of the work from the view of gathering onlookers. Earlier in the weekend, a representative of Hendrick Motorsports asked that no photos be taken of Day’s wrecked primary car when the hood was open.

*Day staged to return from 30 minutes of repairs under both caution and the red.*

As these repairs took place, the field continued to circulate around the track for five laps before the red flag finally came out to reattach the sewer cover and inspect all remaining covers on the course. Again due to the extraordinary circumstances, Day’s crew was allowed to continue repairs during the red flag. Finally, about 30 minutes after impact, Day rolled up to pit exit with silver tape on the nose, the grille repaired, and new parts under the hood. He stopped for a moment before he was directed back onto the track, just after the 18-minute red was withdrawn and caution laps began again. These caution laps continued for another four slow laps, allowing Day to drive around the field four times and return to the lead lap. The reason given was to give Day back the disadvantage he incurred when NASCAR waited to throw the red.

On Lap 9, the race was finally back under way with Day still 25.608 seconds back of the lead, about 19 seconds behind the trio of Cram, Perez, and Gase who still trailed the rest of the field after a few others made pit stops. Since Day’s incident happened on the opening lap, Jesse Love had yet to serve his pass-through penalty for the lug nut issue, so he did this on Lap 10. Love just barely managed to reach the finish line before Day (26.336 seconds back of the lead to Day’s 26.464), but Day then dropped Love to last place an instant later. By the start of Lap 11, the now last-place Day was now 52.103 seconds back of the lead, the gap increased due to running pit road speed during the pass-through, and Day had climbed to 35th past Gase, whose engine sounded like it was skipping entering Turn 1. A few drivers then pitted, including Day, who on Lap 12 was handed a speeding penalty in Section 17, forcing him to make a pass-through of his own. Once again, Day was in last place. On Lap 13, Day coasted into Turn 1, but remained on the lead lap when Stage 1 ended on Lap 15.

Now caught up, Day climbed out of last again during pit stops, dropping Perez to last on Lap 16 before Cram took it again for the Lap 17 restart, now 8.952 seconds back of the lead. Cram remained last on Lap 18, 24.519 seconds back of the lead, with Allgaier’s #7 now struggling with engine issues in 36th, 19.110 seconds back of the lead. The next time by, Allgaier’s engine note sounded flat, and he fell 25.631 seconds back of the lead to Cram’s 36.343. Cram then cut his deficit to Allgaier to seven seconds on Lap 20.

By Lap 21, Sammy Smith had been spun twice in his #8 Arby’s Cheesesteak Chevrolet, the second causing damage to his rear bumper. He dropped from 34th to 36th as Joey Gase made it by along with a recently promoted U.S. Navy officer Jesse Iwuji in the #91 Navy Exchange Chevrolet. Smith then took last that same lap, dropping 67.978 seconds back of the lead to the again 36th-place Cram at 53.290. Smith returned to the track nearly a lap down, his team warning him to “not making the tires mad.”

Moments later on Lap 23, Baltazar Leguizamon’s #42 RUS Chevrolet made contact with Allgaier, sending both into a spin. Meanwhile, Lavar Scott’s #45 The Local Pacific Beach Chevrolet stopped on the track, reporting an issue with the shifter or transmission. The moment Scott’s car was shown on the track’s big screens, members of Scott’s Alpha Prime Racing crew were shouting for people to get out of the way as they pushed their equipment cart back to the garage. When asked what happened, one made a gearshift gesture with his hands. Scott’s team told their driver to relay to the rescue crews, “Tell them to push the clutch in and see if it will roll,” but by Lap 25 the #45 car was a lap down and now in last place. Scott was still behind the wheel when he was towed to the garage area nose-first. The team hurriedly instructed the driver to set the car down perpendicular to their hauler, and they quickly jacked it up on the driver’s side. Then, using a jack with an “07” decal on it, gradually lifted the right-rear to get it on four jack stands.

*Scott’s No. 45 on jack stands after he stopped on track.*

Back on the track, Ryan Ellis had worked his way to 5th in the #02 Tablo TV Chevrolet when something failed in the back of his car, causing him to lose power and drop fluid on the track. By Lap 28, Ellis was also in the garage and on jack stands, his car staged near the entrance. Ellis came into the race leading the 2026 LASTCAR O’Reilly standings, and like Day was in position to extend his lead as the first repeat last-place runner of the season. His crew removed both rear wheels, then the rear gear and driveshaft. By then, Scott’s team was making similar repairs to their car’s driveline.

*Ryan Ellis’ No. 02 joins Scott’s car in the garage after something failed in the rear of his car.*

Kyle Sieg joined the last-place battle the very next time by on Lap 29, when his crew pushed his car past both Ellis and Scott toward the RSS Racing hauler. Sieg climbed out, but when asked what happened, would only say, “Driver error.” When he eventually spoke with a member of the team, he only elaborated that he blew the engine. With the issue apparently terminal, there was a noticeable lack of urgency in Sieg’s crew’s response compared to those of Ellis and Scott. Soon, the team retrieved the shop wheels.

Back on track, the race had restarted following Scott’s stall, the caution fell twice more – once for the end of Stage 2, and the other for the latest frustration for Corey Day – a tangle with Dean Thompson’s #26 Thompson Pipe Group Toyota in Turn 5. Day’s caution led to a fateful Lap 35 restart, when Sam Mayer’s top-five running #41 Audibel Hear Better, Connect Better Chevrolet accidentally glanced off the Turn 1 wall and crashed, triggering a pileup that collected 24 other drivers, seriously damaging both Mayer’s car, the #96 Dude Wipes Poopsicle Chevrolet of Anthony Alfredo, and the #18 Starkey Hearing Toyota of William Sawalich. Soon after, crew members of Mayer, Alfredo, and Sawalich were walking slowly back to the garage carrying equipment. Their three wrecked cars soon followed on separate tow trucks.

*Significant damage to the car of Sam Mayer, which triggered a pileup on Lap 35.*

The moment the caution fell for the wreck, Ellis re-fired the engine of his #02, which was now off the jack stands and apparently ready to return to the race, seven laps down. But the red flag soon fell, during which NASCAR confirmed that Kyle Sieg was out of the race along with the wrecked Mayer, Alfredo, and Sawalich. This left both Scott, still in 37th and last place, and 36th-place Ellis with a chance of gaining a few positions. Scott ended up first to return to the race on Lap 36, at which point he was 11 laps down. Scott lost further time when he made a pit stop and sped in Sections 1 and 2, but still dropped Ellis to last on Lap 40. Ellis responded immediately, returning on Lap 41 within just a couple laps of Scott. Ellis’ first completed lap timed in at 5,699.044 seconds, or just under 1 hour and 35 minutes. “I feel like we’re in the damn 24 Hours of San Diego right now,” said Ellis.

*Ellis’ team continues repairs. Notice the rear gear staged behind the car.*

But the effort paid off. On Lap 43, Ellis dropped Kyle Sieg to last place, where he would remain through confirmation by post-race inspection. This gave Sieg the lead in the 2026 LASTCAR O’Reilly standings as the first repeat last-place finisher of the season, beating both Day and Ellis to the mark along with the rest of the field. Scott climbed to 29th by the checkered flag, one spot ad one lap ahead of 30th-place Ellis. With the wrecked Sawalich in 36th, Alfredo in 35th, and Mayer in 34th, only one position remained in the Bottom Five. This spot was filled by Leguizamon, whose #42 lost its engine in the closing stages.

*Damage to the wrecked No. 96 of Anthony Alfredo*

Saturday’s race filled by impressive rallies and narrow escapes (click links for video interviews)

Saturday’s exhausting three-and-a-half-hour O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race saw separate incidents keep both Carson Kvapil and Parker Retzlaff from scoring their first series victory, taking instead finishes of 4th and 7th as Austin Hill took the checkered flag. Between them came Sammy Smith, who recovered from his two early spins to finish 5th, and last-place starter Jesse Love, who clawed his way to 7th. Corey Day also recovered nicely after NASCAR returned him to the lead lap, capitalizing on the second chance to finish in the 10th spot, two spots ahead of Brandon Jones in the race’s other backup car.

Among the other impressive runs were those of Austin Green, whose #87 3-Dimensional Services Chevrolet finished 8th, one week after Nick Sanchez took over for his first of several oval-track races with the Peterson Racing Group. Behind him in 9th came Harrison Burton in the #24 Klutch Vodka Toyota, finally scoring his first top-ten finish 18 races into a 2026 mired with bad luck at the Sam Hunt Racing team. Preston Pardus earned a season-best 18th in only his third start of the year in the #50 Chinchor Electric Inc. Chevrolet. And Joey Gase Motorsports’ strategy paid off for all three of its drivers with Brad Perez finishing best of the group in 19th without a scratch on his #55, followed by Dawson Cram’s #35 in 21st and Joey Gase’s #53 in 23rd.

Two other drivers nearly capitalized on great runs. When the race restarted with 8 laps to go, Alex Labbe had climbed to 9th place in the #0 Vet The Vote Chevrolet, a car which also carried associate sponsorship from longtime Derrike Cope sponsor Straight Arrow / Mane ‘n Tail shampoo. But that same lap, Labbe pulled behind a tire barrier with an electrical issue, dropping him to the 27th spot. Also running in the Top Ten at that time was Dr. Patrick Staropoli, the last-place finisher at Watkins Glen, who had yet to finish better than 13th this season. Staropoli twice charged into the Top Ten and ran as high as 6th before a slow leak in the right-front tire sent him down pit road coming to the white flag, leaving him 20th. Incredibly, Staropoli’s run could have ended on the opening lap as the sewer grate Day struck had been sent airborne as Staropoli neared the scene.

Bonus Interview with Josh Bilicki, who finished 16th despite suspension issues.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first time the #28 finished last in an O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race on a road course.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

37) #28-Kyle Sieg / 28 laps / engine

36) #18-William Sawalich / 34 laps / crash

35) #96-Anthony Alfredo / 34 laps / crash

34) #41-Sam Mayer / 34 laps / crash

33) #42-Baltazar Leguizamon / 41 laps / engine

2026 LASTCAR O’REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) RSS Racing (3)

2nd) DGM Racing x JIM, Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen, Young’s Motorsports (2)

2nd) AM Racing, Big Machine Racing, Haas Factory Team, Hendrick Motorsports, Hettinger Racing, JR Motorsports, Sam Hunt Racing, SS-Green Light Racing, Viking Motorsports (1)

2026 LASTCAR O’REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (13)

2nd) Ford (4)

3rd) Toyota (1)

2026 LASTCAR O’REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP