Ryan Sieg‘s hometown of Tucker, Georgia, is a world away from the Sorbonne in Paris, France. 

It was at the Sorbonne in April 1910 when President Theodore Roosevelt, having left office a year prior, delivered a speech entitled “Citizenship in a Republic”, known today for its famous “Man in the Arena” excerpt.

“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena,” Roosevelt said, “Whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”

You can’t say Ryan Sieg hasn’t known defeat. In fact, no driver in the history of the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series has ever scored their first career win after more starts than Sieg. 

423 prior to Friday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Daytona, the 39-year-old had raced and lost. Race No. 424 was the charm, meaning you can’t say that Sieg doesn’t know victory anymore, either. 

Ryan Sieg wins NASCAR race at Daytona

Sieg scored career win No. 1 on hallowed Daytona ground. There is no higher achievement in NASCAR racing than winning at Daytona, nor is there any failure greater in spectacle than an ill-fated daring move that a driver makes in an effort to win at the 2.5-mile superspeedway. 

Sieg has dared greatly plenty of times in his career and come up short. He lost by inches at Texas Motor Speedway in 2024 to Sam Mayer in a race that, had he ended his career without a victory, would’ve gone down as one of the most heartbreaking losses in NASCAR history. 

As of Friday night, it might as well be ancient history.

“To do it at Daytona, dream come true,” Sieg said. “It seems surreal right now.”

Sieg is a throwback to the olden days of NASCAR when many drivers owned the cars they drove and had to worry about payroll, expenses, sponsorship and the other multitude of tasks that come with owning a big-league team along with driving the car. 

It’s for that reason that he’s always been billed as a lovable underdog, even though he frequently punches above his weight. Interspersed with his few gut-wrenching close calls at victory — five runner-up finishes, to be exact — have been four appearances in the O’Reilly Series playoffs. In 12 full-time seasons, all of them driving for his own team, he’s never finished worse than 18th in the standings. 

Simply sustaining such a lengthy career is impressive in its own right. But Sieg, like every driver, wanted to win. And when wins didn’t come, he says doubt began to creep in. 

“Of course. That’s what’s been happening for most of my career, something happens at the end,” Sieg said. “I’ve been in these positions many times, and until I saw that checkered flag and we were ahead, finally… there’s always a doubt. Today, we are in victory lane.”

Sieg’s worthy cause is, of course, racing, which has remained a constant even if victory has been anything but. 

“I love what I do,” Sieg said. “One day it’s going to pay off. Here we are in victory lane. To finally be a winner here in the O’Reilly Series, here at Daytona, it’s super special. All that hard work’s paid off. 

“Tomorrow, it’ll probably sink in. But finally, that first win.”

Quotes provided by NASCAR Media.