Despite what his crew chief called one of his best drives in the past two years, Williams Lake’s Ryley Seibert finished eighth Aug. 6 at the WESCAR late model series in Agassiz.
One of 18 drivers in the field at the Agassiz Speedway, Seibert said he had two hours to sleep in his truck on the way to the race.
“We spent Friday night and Saturday morning working on the car, and I’m so proud of how my team Matt Gertzen and Brenden Kohnke gave it everything all weekend long,” Seibert said.
The race pushed every driver with seemingly unending yellow flags.
“We had started in the front when a car cut into my lane and forced me to spin, and another hit my left front tire,” he said.
“And my team came through. I was in the pits twice for a tire change and body repairs. We only lost one lap.”
That lost lap was regained at a later caution in the race when Seibert gained the ‘lucky dog’ position, awarded to the highest currently scored non-lead car.
“With that we drove from the back up to the fourth position,” Seibert said. “But the damage to the body would wear out the tires too much.”
That dropped Seibert back to the eighth spot to conclude the race.
With qualifying times within less than a tenth of a second from other drivers, the race at Agassiz proved a challenge for all drivers.
“My crew chief, Mike Ernst, believes it was one of the best drives I have shown in the last two years, if not the best,” he said.
“When Mike tells me he’s proud I was his driver no matter what the result, I’m really proud of that.”
Seibert and his crew will now head back to the shop, fix the car and prepare for his next race, the WESCAR Late Model Series on Aug. 27 in Williams Lake at Thunder Mountain Speedway.
The track’s annual Memorial Race, the event will also feature bone stocks, pro minis and street stocks. Qualifying laps start at 4 p.m. with racing to begin at 5 p.m.