When RSS Racing debuted in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2009, Rod Sieg operated the team near its home base in Tucker, Georgia. That remained the case for Ryan Sieg when he jumped to the Xfinity Series in 2013.
For the first decade of the organization’s existence — through alliances with powerhouse teams Richard Childress Racing and Stewart-Haas Racing — they remained in the Peach State. Until this year.
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Matt Noyce, former SHR car chief, returned as crew chief of the No. 39 Ford for a second season after a successful trial run in 2024. Previously, RSS employees traveled nearly four hours to Charlotte, North Carolina, to make the alliance with the rebranded Haas Factory Team useful. Now, Charlotte is the team’s backyard, with the No. 39 team having a shop a mile-and-a-half away from the Haas team. The team’s No. 28 entry for Kyle Sieg remains in Georgia.
“The alliance we have, all the resources are on the table,” Noyce said. “It’s about the time and having the people to do it. Being in North Carolina has helped that a lot.
“We’re working just as much, and we’re using the resources. We’re going to the Hawkeye, we’re going to the simulator, we’re going to the pulldown and doing more of the details. There were times last year where you went to the race at 85% or 90%. This year, I feel like we’re going to the race track always at 90% or 100% and not missing that last 10%. I think that’s the difference in the speed we have off the truck.”
Neither Noyce nor Sieg pushed for the move to the Charlotte area, but it made sense logistically. A successful first 2024 campaign, barely missing the Xfinity Series Playoffs, made both parties realize there was more potential, even with just a handful of full-time employees.
“Everyone knows the speed that we built last year, there was a next step,” Noyce said. “Everyone came together. The guys at Haas pushed for it a little bit, and the Siegs wanted to make sure we can get Ryan the best opportunity we can to win some races.”
Sieg was in favor of the move once it was agreed upon, even if it meant driving back and forth from Georgia each Monday to get on the Ford simulator.
“It has picked up the program where you show up every week trying to contend for top fives or top 10s,” Sieg said of the move. “We haven’t shown all of our potential yet. We’ve got a little work to do, but we’re getting there, and everyone is pulling in the right direction now.”
Noyce has a pre-existing relationship with the Haas team, serving as the car chief for the No. 41 Xfinity team in 2017 when Kevin Harvick ran a partial schedule. He returned to the team in 2022 for the same position when Riley Herbst piloted the No. 98.
That familiarity has helped with RSS. The No. 39 team is using many of the same chassis Herbst ran throughout the 2022 season. Building a notebook with those cars has pushed RSS forward.
The first 11 races in 2025 have been a roller coaster for the No. 39 bunch. Sieg has been involved in three last-lap crashes and has had multiple mechanical woes. At Talladega Superspeedway, he charged to the front from a 35th-place starting position, only to be involved in a late wreck. On the other hand, Sieg has four top-10 finishes, led a career-high 77 laps at Rockingham Speedway and is still on the positive side of the playoff elimination line as the series heads to Texas Motor Speedway for Saturday’s race (2 p.m. ET, The CW, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“Ryan has been lucky even when he has bad luck,” Rod said. “I don’t know how that is, but he’s wrecked a lot. If we finished, we’d really be good.”
MORE: Xfinity Series standings | Xfinity Series schedule
Entering Talladega, Sieg ranked ninth in the championship standings battle, 11 points behind fourth. With the incident, he dropped to 11th and lost 45 markers to fourth.
Compared to other years, however, Sieg has more raw speed and is adequately prepared when he shows up at the race track.
“It is a good feeling to be running so well and lead laps,” Sieg said. “We just have to keep after it because it’s been fun. It’s always a joy to come to the race track and at least be in contention for top 10s and top fives. Once you get so far up, trying to get that win is a tough battle.”
The ultimate goal is to win. Sieg has 21 career top-five finishes in 378 starts, including five runner-up results. One of those was in heartbreaking fashion at Texas Motor Speedway — tied for the second-closest finish in Xfinity history — to now-satellite teammate Sam Mayer last year.
Optimism is in the air that this year’s No. 39 team could be the one that finally visits Victory Lane. Sieg’s No. 39 has already led 88 laps, on pace to shatter the most he’s led in a single season (103 in 2020).
“I feel like we can be a top-six team,” Noyce said. “[The competition] will get us back because they have more resources, more manpower and people. We’re looking forward right now and not trying to play defense. I feel like we can win a race. I feel like our options to win aren’t as plentiful, but we have some good tracks coming up that we can win a race. I don’t think it’s stealing a race at this point.”
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