After a solid finish at the 2016 WESCAR Late Model Series finale, Williams Lake driver Ryley Seibert defended his points position to land third place overall for the season.
The series ended on a wet Sunday, Sept. 18 in Quesnel.
“We battled weather the entire time,” Seibert said.
“It rained enough on Saturday to postpone the race.”
Seibert got in some practice laps and qualified second before he and his team returned Sunday to start ninth.
“At the green flag we fought with the front runners over the top three positions. We were close.”
After a few laps Seibert said he noticed his car wasn’t set up right for the track conditions.
“I knew it would be tough to keep pace with the leaders,” he said.
A few bump and runs from other drivers and a couple of good saves on Seibert’s part kept the team sitting around fifth.
“We planned to adjust the car during yellow flags,” Seibert said.
“However, the race leader wasn’t following proper caution laps speed. I knew we wouldn’t have enough time so I adjusted my driving line and brake bias as best I could to get the most out of the car as is.”
At the checkered flag Seibert and his team placed fifth, defending their third-place points standing.
“I’m proud of our small team,” he said. “We were three guys for most of the races, with one driving and two on pit lane. We did well under the circumstances. I worked crazy hours on [the build at] Area 27 and was away from the race shop all season.
“We put together the best car we could on Friday nights before each race.”
With 2016 in the books and with another year of seat time, Seibert said he’ll have more knowledge and understanding of how he wants his car to drive next season.
“I had some ideas on certain setups that worked and others that failed,” he said.
“But, if I hadn’t tried, I would have never learned.”
Seibert and his team will return to race in 2017 and he’s confident they are ahead of where they started this time last year.
“The car is in good shape with no major repairs so we can focus on making it much faster for next year.”