Searching for A Hero and Finding Ryan Sieg
11/05/2014
J. L. Steele
It's funny how we choose our heroes in racing. Some fans
choose "their guy" because they've watched a driver climb through the
ranks. Others base it on a car number they followed when another driver
occupied that seat. Some follow drivers of a certain car owner or sponsor.
There have been two drivers in my lifetime of NASCAR viewing who have been "my guy." I'm the son of two Richard Petty fans and the grandson of
two more Petty people. Although my dad still says there was no one better than
Fireball Roberts, he converted to the Petty camp probably because of my mom's
loyalty to the King. Naturally as a young boy, if my whole family liked Richard
Petty I had to go in the opposite direction. That's how I landed on Darrell
Waltrip. I remember first cheering for Darrell around 1977. He'd
already been on the circuit for a few years but was really making a name for
himself and ruffling feathers along the way. He was beating the older
generation of drivers and he wasn't shy about talking about it. I suppose in hindsight,
part of my attraction to him was the fact that he won but part of it was
probably also the fact that he was brash and cocky and I was too. I remained
loyal to DW from his Di-Gard days in the Gatorade 88,
all the way to the bitter end when it was obvious there would be no more glory
days. As Waltrip's success faded and it
was obvious the end of his career was coming, I realized I needed another racer
to pull for. There were a lot of great drivers at that time I admired and
respected. Ricky Rudd, Jeremy Mayfield and Sterling Marlin come to mind but I
didn't have that "one" to pin my passion to. As I had grown older,
I'd developed a fondness for the underdog story in sports. Part of that
probably had to do with watching my Pittsburgh Pirates begin a 20 year descent
into baseball oblivion. Maybe that's why I chose Bobby Labonte. Bobby had already been on the circuit for several years and
had won a few races. His brother Terry had already won his championships. It
wasn't as if Bobby was an unknown. He seemed to be one of those guys that just
showed up and did his job and I admired that. I was obviously thrilled when he
won his own title in 2000. Having matured (at least slightly) since my younger
days, I admired him for making the move from Joe Gibbs Racing to Petty
Enterprises. There was something special about watching "my guy" race
for a team my family had followed for at least four decades. Of course, they
never achieved the on-track success together that we'd hoped for but if I'm
nothing else, I'm loyal. I stayed true to Labonte to the end of his run with
JTG Racing. I'll admit that although the chances grow slimmer each week, I
still harbor a hope of seeing him on the track again. So again, I found myself looking for a driver to identify
with except now I'm even older. Heck, I'm older than most of the guys racing
now. I don't really need or want a hero. I want a guy that gives me a reason to
get excited. I'm probably even more of a champion for the underdog than ever
before. As money and marketing become more important than on-track ability, I
was finding it almost impossible to find that driver. Sure, there are still
guys who I admire; guys like Stewart, Harvick and now even Jeff Gordon but I
wanted someone fresh, someone who hadn't already achieved stardom, someone I could root for as he made the climb to the top. Then I turned on the season opening Nationwide
race from Daytona back in February. I've following the sport at the higher
levels less than I ever had but hey, it's Daytona and don't we all watch that
first weekend? As I expected, most of the top ten was dominated by Cup regulars
raiding the series along with some big money, high profile Nationwide
drivers. But there was something interesting that caught my eye. A family
operated, small budget team had sneaked into ninth place with their son Ryan
Sieg behind the wheel. I vaguely knew the name. He'd run a handful of truck
races in the last five years along with four Nationwide starts in 2013; nothing
spectacular and besides, anyone can get lucky in the draft at Daytona. It was a
nice story but what would happen in the weeks to come? He followed it up the next week with a 14th place finish at
Phoenix then went four more races with no finish lower than 22nd. Darlington
saw him crash for the first time this season and produced his season worst
finish at 37th. I began to pay attention. This low budget team, this proverbial
David against the big money Goliaths was holding its own. Sieg was finishing in
the top 25 then the top 20 with some top 15's thrown in. He proved his season
opening run wasn't a fluke when he ran third at Daytona in July. We all know about another family run team out of Georgia who
now had a son racing in the series, but look at what Chase Elliott had been
handed. Ryan Sieg was showing up with his family team without consistent, big
money, corporate sponsorship and he was improving. I realized I was watching a
reminder of how this sport used to operate. You show up with what you can put
together, take care of your equipment, don't cause trouble and earn respect on
and off the track. This was an old-style racer in a new racing world and he was
and is succeeding even as the NASCAR media ignored him. I'm at an age when I don't need a hero. I just want someone
to make me feel the passion for the sport that made it what it was and made me
the fan I used to be and I think I found it. Without untold millions in
sponsorship, without being aligned with a Sprint Cup team and with only one
short pre-race interview that I can remember, (Atlanta in August) this driver
who wasn't born until after my junior year in high school, has made me want to
care again. Though he shows a lot of potential and I like his odds,
there's obviously no way to know how successful he will be. We don't know if
he'll become a Cup star or be out of the sport within a few years because he
didn't get that one break that can make the difference. There is one thing I
know. My search is over. For better or worse, Ryan Sieg is my man.