Corey Day has now completed fourth twice in his NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Components profession, however his journey there on Saturday was a messy one.
It began with, Ryan Sieg, who hoped to hold momentum over from a stable season-opener the place he completed third at Daytona. Nonetheless, his day got here to an abrupt finish after simply 5 laps into the Atlanta NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Components (NOAPS) race.
Day tried to get beneath Sieg exiting Flip 4, taking him three-wide up the center. Nonetheless, he rapidly ran out of room and Sieg received despatched up the observe, slamming into the skin wall. Harrison Burton, Blaine Perkins, and Ryan’s brother Kyle Sieg all plowed into the accident, struggling heavy harm. Patrick Staropoli additionally received a chunk of it.
Ryan Sieg crash
Picture by: Sean Gardner / Getty Photographs
After being launched from the infield care middle, Sieg, who operates as an unbiased driver/proprietor, was nonetheless heated over the incident.
“Yeah, it is lap three, I feel,” he instructed The CW. “So, we’re simply driving, simply form of staying within the line, making an attempt to get our line going, after which he is received considerably of a gap, and he simply goes in it … I imply, what is the level? It is lap three. that is simply his regular race in any case, tearing up automobiles. He is like that. At Martinsville, he solely wrecked 15 instances in a single lap. So, I imply, final week he did that about 4 or 5 instances at Daytona, so right here we’re once more on lap three, simply not sensible.”
Nonetheless, that wasn’t Day’s final run-in of the night time. Later within the race with 59 laps to go, he was battling Carson Kvapil for the lead when he pushed up the observe, triggering a three-car crash on the very entrance of the sector. Each Kvapil and Justin Allgaier had been unable to proceed.
“You recognize, you are in these moments and I do not know what induced the occasions that form of put us in there,” mentioned Allgaier. “However you recognize, you are simply driving alongside and sadly … the one possibility was to go low and I knew there was automobiles under us. However simply that little bit of harm was sufficient to to interrupt some suspension elements. So I hate it for our staff I had it for everyone at JR Motorsports.
Added Kvapil: “Simply was controlling the race there, making an attempt to regulate the highest line, and the #17 received free beneath me and launched up into us, and I believed I used to be going to have it saved, and slapped the precise entrance and took the suspension out, so simply hated this entire staff, these guys introduced me a extremely quick race automobile, and simply did not get to the tip.”
Day radioed that he had a tire happening, but it surely was one other rocky chapter in a wild race for the rookie driver. He fell a lap down, however earned the free go and drove again up inside the highest ten. As chaos unfolded within the ultimate laps, he managed to get all the way in which as much as fourth — matching his earlier greatest from Las Vegas final fall.
“No I am unable to (imagine it),” mentioned Day about how his day ended up. “Our sway bar was broke there after the contact with the #1 (Kvapil) and the #7 (Allgaier). I believed we had been performed after that, however we fired off with with actually good tempo after that. Initially of the race, I do not suppose issues actually labored out for me. I really feel like I’d transfer to the underside on the flawed time, transfer to the highest on the flawed time, and simply form of get shucked to the again. There on the finish, I really feel like I form of performed my playing cards good.”
We wish your opinion!
What would you prefer to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
– The Motorsport.com Staff
