JOLIET, Ill – A bold move by the RSS Racing team to keep NASCAR XFINITY Series driver Ryan Sieg on the racetrack Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway during a round of green flag pit stops paid off with their best finish of the season.
A strong 16th place qualifying effort by Sieg, who turned 28 Saturday helped keep the No. 39 Uncle Bob’s Storage Chevrolet Camaro on the lead lap and in position to inherit the lead on Lap 78 for six laps, until the second caution flag of the day waved to retrieve a tire on pit road.
The gamble paid off allowing Sieg to pit, stay on the lead lap and restart sixth. Despite a gallant effort to remain in the top-10, Sieg’s loose handling wouldn’t cooperate.
Still, Sieg’s strategy and the safety net of remaining with the lead pack allowed the former NASCAR Camping World Truck Series regular to finish 15th, his best effort through 14 races.
Overall, the result in the postponed Owens Corning AttiCat 300 produced Sieg’s eighth top-20 finish of the season and some much welcomed momentum heading into Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway on Saturday, July 4.
Last year, Sieg fought his way to a career-best third on the 2.5-mile restrictor plate track and hopes to return to their in two weeks and earn his first top-10 finish of the season.
The finish also paid off in the point standings elevating the Georgian to 16th overall and now just five points from Ross Chastain in 15th.
The NASCAR XFINTIY Series takes a week off before kicking off a grueling stretch of 15 consecutive races that will end with at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway in October.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
