Sieg succeeds, Cassill and Creed crack in NXS playoff bids
BRISTOL, TENN. — Where Landon Cassill and Sheldon Creed had issues in the Sept. 16 Food City 300 regular-season finale at Bristol Motor Speedway, Ryan Sieg earned a quiet top-10 finish while his competitors had issues.
Ryan Sieg finished 10th after earning one point in stage one Friday night. Sieg entered the race 19 points behind Landon Cassill and 13 points ahead of Sheldon Creed. In stage one, Cassill and Sieg finished ninth and tenth, outpacing Creed who didn’t finish top 10 in the stage.
In stage two, Sheldon Creed leapfrogged them on pit strategy and led laps 91 through 124 in stage two.
Creed battled for second on the outside of Ty Gibbs. Then, on Lap 130, Noah Gragson bumped Gibbs into Creed. Gragson drove on as they crashed into the wall and sustained race-ending damage.
Creed finished 37th, out after 128 laps and led the third-most laps – 34 – of any driver in the race.
While Creed led, Landon Cassill pitted on Lap 118 for an issue with the right front of the car that put him out of the race for 112 laps. Finally, on Lap 230, Cassill returned to the track.
Cassill passed Creed and Gibbs within 10 laps but needed Ryan Sieg to drop six spots, from 10th to 16th or worse. Unfortunately, Sieg finished 10th and bumped Cassill from his first-ever NASCAR playoff appearance.
Sieg’s 2022 NXS playoff berth is his fourth in seven editions of the series’ playoffs, including three of the last four.
Despite the contrast in fortunes, Sieg and Cassill embraced each other in a show of sportsmanship.
Like Ryan Sieg, Daniel Hemric also hung on to beat Landon Cassill for a playoff spot, giving Kaulig Racing at least two playoff entries while their other entry missed.
Daniel Hemric finished eighth in each stage and ran top 10 in stage three. Then, under the Lap 272 caution, Hemric fell two laps down after the team worked on power steering issues he incurred. He ultimately finished 20th and made the playoffs by 37 points:
| 11 | Daniel Hemric | 615 points | +37 |
| 12 | Landon Cassill | 597 | +19 |
| 13 | Ryan Sieg | 578 | -19 |
| 14 | Sheldon Creed | 565 | -32 |
| 11 | Daniel Hemric | 638 points | +37 |
| 12 | Ryan Sieg | 606 | +5 |
| 13 | Landon Cassill | 601 | -5 |
| 14 | Sheldon Creed | 566 | -40 |
| Playoff Seed | Driver | Points | +/- for the Round of 8 |
| 1 | Noah Gragson | 2051 | +46 |
| 2 | Ty Gibbs | 2038 | +33 |
| 3 | Justin Allgaier | 2033 | +28 |
| 4 | A.J. Allmendinger | 2032 | +27 |
| 5 | Josh Berry | 2022 | +17 |
| 6 | Austin Hill | 2016 | +11 |
| 7 | Brandon Jones | 2010 | +5 |
| 8 | Jeremy Clements | 2005 | +0 |
| 9 | Sam Mayer | 2005 | -0 |
| 10 | Daniel Hemric | 2003 | -2 |
| 11 | Riley Herbst | 2002 | -3 |
| 12 | Ryan Sieg | 2001 | -4 |
