Ryan Sieg earns shock first NASCAR O'Reilly pole in 423rd attempt

Saturday at Iowa Speedway was big for the underdogs, as driver/owner Ryan Sieg earned his first-ever pole as a NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series driver.

Driving the No. 39 RSS Racing Chevrolet, Sieg went fastest with a 23.966-second lap at Iowa, 0.064s clear of Ross Chastain in second. Chastain led a fleet of JR Motorsports cars, with Carson Kvapil third, Rajah Caruth fourth, and Justin Allgaier fifth.

“It’s been a long time,” said Sieg as the small team celebrated. “Everything seems to be clicking. We’ve been working super hard at the shop, trying to come together with the Haas Factory Team and the alliance. It’s finally coming together for us. And it’s a special day as it’s my mom’s birthday, so this is a nice payoff right here for her and I. So hopefully we stay out front all day, and we get to Victory Lane in our SciAps Chevrolet.”

Sieg made the difference through Turns 3 and 4, carrying more momentum off the final corner than his rivals. Several drivers matched his pace through the opening half of the lap but lost time through the final corners.

Sieg didn’t think it was a pole lap while behind the wheel, and wasn’t even sure what he had done differently to be that far ahead. “I really don’t — I thought it was just an okay lap. I was tight, actually, at the exit, but I couldn’t roll the middle and get into the gas like I thought I needed to. But hell, it was good enough to get pole here in Iowa.”

The 39-year-old has been racing in the NASCAR O’Reilly Series since 2013, and Saturday’s race will mark his 423rd career start—and his very first on the front row.

As he said in his pole-winning interview, the next milestone is to reach Victory Lane. Sieg is also still searching for his first series victory despite five runner-up finishes and nearly 500 laps led. One of those runner-up finishes came here at Iowa in 2017.

The race is scheduled to begin shortly after 5pm ET on Saturday.