Shane Sieg substituting for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kyle Busch, in the No. 51 Miccosukee Resort Toyota Tundra for Billy Ballew Motorsports, brought home his career best NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series finish of ninth Saturday night in the running of the O’Reilly 200 at the Memphis Motorsports Park. Sieg who has driven four races for Ballew in 2008 posted the team’s eighth top-10 finish.

The Miccosukee Resort Toyota Tundra was fast from the time the team unloaded it from the transporter; posting the fastest time in the first practice and fifth quickest in the final practice. Sieg speed continued into qualifying where he 23.037 seconds at a speed of 117.132 mph placing the Craftsman Truck in the eighth place position for the 200 lap race.

From the start of the race Sieg knew he had a good piece of equipment and focused on racing smart on the on the ¾-mile paved tri-oval Memphis, TN track. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is known for producing some fast laps and close races with a short track only intensifying the action. There was plenty of three and four wide racing and nine cautions with a nine minute red flag to clean the track. Sieg managed to keep out of the melee until a slower truck checked up in front of him causing the truck behind him to tap the truck getting him loose. The talented young driver was able to hold onto the truck, not spinning and continuing on to pick up spots.

Sieg was mastering his corners and gaining speed on the exit keeping him battling for positions with Craftsman Truck Series veterans and Champions.

Although the run was going well, Sieg reported to crew chief Richie Waters that the truck was getting loose going into turn one and it was free exiting both corners. So when the caution flag flew on lap 53, while running ninth, Sieg brought the race truck into the pits for right rear track bar adjustments and four fresh Goodyear tires. Some of the field out of the top-10 had already pitted in a prior caution putting the leaders back in the pack deeper with Sieg restarting 18th.

Sieg continued to work his way back through the pack passing the heavy lapped traffic on the inside and outside on the short track. Sieg reported that the truck had become a little tight in the middle of the corners, developing a small push and the rear tire began to have a vibration. The team caught a lucky break when the caution again waved on lap 123 coming down for four tires and fuel. With a good stop in the pits Sieg was able to keep in the top-10 restarting eighth on lap 127.

Numerous cautions put the lapped traffic upfront causing difficulty for the leaders forcing them to run three and four-wide to get passed them on the on the ¾-mile paved tri-oval. Sieg kept his head in the hot Memphis temperatures cool and avoided any major contact. When the caution flag flew with only 12 laps remaining in the scheduled 200 lap event crew chief Wauters told Sieg to “take a deep breath, get a drink of water and relax a couple minutes” in preparation for the closing laps of the race.

A caution on the track on lap 197 forced the officials to put out the red flag for debris cleanup setting the drivers up for a green/white/checkered flag finish. Sieg had a slower restart and despite his times on the two lap shootout, the laps ran out before had time to advance crossing the start/finish line in the ninth place position.

“The truck was fast from the time these guys unloaded it Friday morning,” Sieg said. “It was awesome. I couldn’t have asked for a better truck. We got tight there at the end, but all in all, it was a good run for Billy Ballew and all these guys. We just got too tight. I think we had something for them in the middle of the race but we needed more green flag laps. The cautions killed us a little bit with all the lapped traffic.

All in all, it was good run and a solid point’s day for the team. I have to thank Billy (Ballew), Richie (Wauters) and Kyle (Busch) for having the faith in me to drive for them when the Cup Series is racing at another location. Richie and I have really built a lot of chemistry in the past few races. The first race is always a struggle, but Mansfield we were on the same page, and here was great. We were fast in practice, qualified good and ran good in the race. Just give us a couple more races and I think we’ll be competing for some wins.”

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is off until Saturday, July 18th where they will take to the track at the Kentucky Motor Speedway for the running of the Built Ford Tough 225.