Two Ryans. Preece and Sieg. One competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series. One competes full-time in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. Both are hardened veterans who have fought and clawed for every opportunity they’ve gotten.
Both have many similarities. Both have differences.
Sieg, a native of Tucker, Georgia, was inspired to start racing by his late older brother, Shane.
The 39-year-old, despite years of struggle, building a family owned team from the ground up, after 424 starts, 5 runner-up finishes; The most notable being a finish at Texas just two years ago where he lost to Sam Mayer by a mere 0.002 seconds, the second-closest finish in series history, has won at long last with a masterful drive to close out Friday Nights race at Daytona.
Ryan Preece, on the other hand, has spent his days scrounging together opportunities with any team he could. He spent years with Johnny Davis Racing. Preece famously bet on himself in 2017, where he spent his own money to field a few opportunities with Joe Gibbs Racing. In his second start with the team, his bet would pay off, finding Victory Lane at Iowa.
That performance led to a bigger opportunity in 2018, where he won for a second time at Bristol.
He then bounced between mid-pack Cup teams for about half a decade, even taking a job with Stewart-Haas Racing as a reserve driver; a role that had previously been unheard of in NASCAR.
That shifted to a full-time role with SHR in 2023, where his most notable moment was flipping 11 times down the backstretch of Daytona International Speedway,
Preece did enough to pique the interest of Brad Keselowski, who signed Preece to drive for him in 2025. But in his first race with the team, Daytona struck again, sending Preece airborne for the second time in a year and a half.
Preece entered tonight’s race at Daytona essentially needing to win to make The Chase. But it seemed the World Center of Racing was against him yet again after he was caught up in a small incident at the end of Stage 1.
Miraculously, the 60 car was just as fast as it had been previously, if not even faster.
As the field took the white flag, Zane Smith led with Preece seeming to slip out of contention.
Then suddenly, for once, a moment of mercy for Ryan Preece as chaos ensued down the backstretch, too much to allow NASCAR to hold the yellow. The caution flew, and despite a late charge from Daniel Suarez, Ryan Preece was…at long last…a NASCAR Cup Series winner.
Two men who worked for every chance they’ve ever gotten in a cutthroat sport. Two men who survived the trials and tribulations and years of uncertainty and not knowing whether or not they’ll even have a job the next season or even the next week.
This weekend was truly one for the underdogs.
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