Kyle Sieg encountered a violent crash during the final lap at the Michigan International Speedway. The RSS Racing driver was nearing his first top-10 finish of the season. However, his #28 Ford became airborne after getting the final lift from Chandler Smith's Toyota.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series marked its return on the 2-mile speedway after the mid-season break and witnessed Justin Allgaier registering his second win. However, moments before the JR Motorsports driver clinched the victory, a horrific turnaround of events occurred, spiraling several drivers.
Among them was Sieg's car, which was bumped out of the pack, with the front of Chandler Smith's #81 Toyota glued to the former's rear. As a result, with both cars uncontrollably drifting to the infield, the #28 Ford started going airborne with the rear end lifting first. The RSS Racing driver's inverted car slammed onto the inside barrier and screeched onto the infield grass, before flipping and coming to a standstill.
Here's the video of the final-lap incident (via NASCAR on NBC on X):
The Georgian is placed 24th in the regular season Xfinity Series rankings, but his name is not in the entire playoff picture due to his zero wins, top-5, and top-10s.
Kyle Sieg opens up ongoing “airborne” on the final lap at Michigan
Kyle Sieg kicked off the 128-lapper from 27th place but in 30 laps, he climbed to an eighth-place finish in Stage 1. However, he plummeted to a 17th-place finish in the second stage. Nonetheless, the likelihood of a top-10 finish was high during the final lap as the RSS Racing driver's ride closely fought the final lap battle.
But as wrecks birthed within the pack, the cascading effect sent Sieg's Ford airborne and ruined his 19th Xfinity Series outing. The 23-year-old gave Bob Pockrass an update on his condition and said his right arm hurt.
"From that [wreck], I was turning infield and I closed my eyes when I was about to flip upside down. Knocked the wind of out me there, just glad I'm all right," Kyle Sieg said via X (0:30).
"I was rolling upside down just hoping I was gonna stop. Thought I was landing upside down luckily just ended up right. Got a little pain in my right arm right now but it'll be alright," he added.
Five races are left before Round of 12 kicks off at the Kansas Speedway. Thus, with only four drivers winless drivers about the playoff cutline, Kyle Sieg needs to post a win to make his first playoffs since debuting in 2021.