Ryan Sieg’s career in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series is the true definition of perseverance. Through 422 races, Sieg has come close to snagging wins and pole positions, but until Saturday afternoon at Iowa Speedway, he had never done either.
That all changed in qualifying for Saturday evening’s Hy-Vee Perks 250 as Sieg finally saw his number atop the scoring pylon in his 423rd attempt.
Starting Lineup: Hy-Vee Perks 250 at Iowa Speedway
For Sieg, and his No. 39 RSS Racing team, this pole is the culmination of a lot of hard work.
“No, it’s been a long time, and now, everything seems to be clicking,” Sieg explained in an interview following qualifying on The CW. “We’ve been working super hard at the shop and trying to come together with the Haas Factory Team in the alliance shop. It’s finally coming together for us.”
Sieg’s pole-winning lap time was a 23.966-second circuit around the 0.875-mile short track in Newton, IA. Not only will August 8 always be known as the day that Sieg scored his first O’Reilly Series pole, but it’s a special day for more reasons than that, and he hopes that on Saturday night, he can add another layer of special to the day.
“It’s a special day; it’s my mom’s birthday. This is a nice payoff right here for her and [me],” Sieg smiled. “So, hopefully, we’ll stay out front all day, and we’ll get to victory lane in our SciAps Chevrolet.”
Ross Chastain, a star in the NASCAR Cup Series, will start alongside Sieg on the front row of Saturday’s race, as he nabbed the runner-up starting spot driving the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet.
Carson Kvapil, who scored his first career win a couple of weeks ago at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, will look to nab career win No. 2 from the third starting spot this weekend, and Rajah Caruth, who continues to try to work himself into Chase contention, will start fourth.
Justin Allgaier, Sheldon Creed, Jeremy Clements, Corey Day, Sammy Smith, and Parker Retzlaff rounded out the top-10 qualifiers for the Hy-Vee Perks 250 at Iowa Speedway.
