DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – In a relatively calm NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) season-opener at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, family-owned RSS Racing with drivers Ryan Sieg and Jeff Green delivered a pair of top-10 finishes to kick off the 2019 season.
With plenty of experience and success at restrictor plate tracks in Xfinity, both drivers put themselves in the middle of the hunt at the right time utilizing the dominating high lane and riding comfortably in the top-10.
The Georgia-based team made several changes to their program during the offseason including the hiring of crew chief Shane Wilson who oversaw Sieg’s No. 39 Larry’s Hard Lemonade Chevrolet Camaro entry.
The finish for Sieg was his fourth career top-five and 10th career top-10 finish in 170 races. Two of his prior top-five finish have come at the “World Center of Racing” but in the July summer event.
Previously his best outing in the season-opener race came in 2014 when he finished ninth after starting 29th.
“It was an amazing day for RSS Racing,” said Sieg. “I’m so proud of everyone on our small team. We are more prepared than any other season.
“We’ve updated our program and I’m glad we got the results to show it. The finish was uncharacteristic for Daytona, but we’ll take it for what it is and be back in July.”
Jeff Green has been a staple driver with the RSS Racing team over the past few seasons. While the lack of sponsorship has kept him primarily a start-and-park driver, Green has been able to fish for dollars and run the superspeedway events for the three-car organization.
On Saturday, Green delivered his first top-10 finish since a 10th at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in April 2017 driving for B.J. McLeod Motorsports.
Green isn’t expected to run another full-race until Talladega in April.
“I can’t thank Rod and Pam Sieg enough for giving me this chance to still do this,” offered Green. “This sport has changed a lot over the years and I’m thankful to still be out there doing what I love.
“I’m so happy for all the guys at RSS Racing and look forward to seeing good things for our team in 2019.”
Unable to hook up together and with no driver wanting to step outside their circle, the opportunity to connect and power to the front never materialized and both drivers settled for clean race cars and positive finishes for the often-dubbed underfunded team.
Investing in their program for 2019, Sieg said Daytona was a glimpse of what he expects to be a very promising year.
“We are going to surprise some people this year,” added Sieg. “I can’t wait to get our home town race in Atlanta next week and keep our momentum surging forward.”
In a third RSS entry, Wisconsin’s Josh Bilicki made his team debut Saturday and finished on the lead lap in 23rd after qualifying a career-best 20th.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
