An early crash changed the tone of Saturday’s Bennett Transportation and Logistics 250 at EchoPark Speedway, taking out Ryan Sieg and Kyle Sieg within the opening laps. The incident happened just as the field settled into position and quickly collected several cars.
Corey Day’s move into the middle lane triggered contact that sent Ryan Sieg into the outside wall and sparked a multi-car wreck.
While some drivers recovered and continued, the crash ended the night for both Sieg brothers. Their frustration showed right away on the radio and later in interviews at the track.
Ryan Sieg moved high while racing for position. Corey Day, in the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, pushed into the middle lane in a three-wide situation.
Contact followed, and Sieg’s car shot into the outside wall, starting a pileup that involved Kyle Sieg, Harrison Burton, Blaine Perkins, and others.
Ryan Sieg reacted immediately on the radio. “Every fcking week. I don’t know why he’s in that fcking car.”
Speaking later to Peter Stratta, Sieg explained how the moment unfolded from his view. “The 17 put it in a hole he shouldn’t have. He definitely needs to learn. A lot of them do. You’ve got to finish the race before you can have a chance to win it. Unfortunately, we were part of a frustrating situation where he put himself in a hole he didn’t need to be in on lap four.”
He also described what he heard from his spotter and when the incident occurred. “We were just trying to move around and see where our car was. Everybody was kind of free, and I was trying to give the guys in the inside room. I was just trying to get our lane going on lap four. It’s only lap four.”
Kyle Sieg said the crash developed too quickly for him to avoid it. “I couldn’t turn down fast enough. I tried to turn left, and it was too late. I got into him. Not that hard, but it smashed all the water lines and oil lines.”
He added that once the cars began to stack up ahead, he had no escape route. “Yeah, nowhere to go. I haven’t seen the replay yet, so I really can’t say much. Once I hit the 24, I saw the 31 sideways in the wall and the 24 in front of me sideways. I tried to check up, but by the time I did, I was already in them. Things happen fast here.”
The result ended both brothers’ races almost immediately, leaving them to watch the rest of the event from the garage.
Kyle also spoke about the disappointment of crashing at a familiar venue. “It sucks. It’s my home track, and you want to do well in front of your friends and family. Thanks to Big House and everybody. It’s never fun when you wreck on lap five or whatever it was. Now we just have to watch the rest of the race.”
Kyle Sieg also reflected on the aggressive nature of superspeedway racing and the No. 17’s push toward the front. “Yeah, it happens every year. If you ride around, you can usually get a good finish because somebody’s going to do something dumb. That’s typically what happens.”
When asked about Day directly, he added, “He’s a great driver, that’s all I’ve got to say… He was all over the place last week, on the wall, and trying to go somewhere. I guess on lap four, he was trying to get to the front.”
