CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Audio and story by Race Chaser Online Managing Editor Jacob Seelman — Tom Baker photo —

We are debuting a new feature here on Race Chaser Online called “Five in Five,” with the goal of spending five minutes asking five questions of drivers from various motorsports disciplines. Our first subject, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR XFINITY Series competitor Ryan Ellis, knocked it out of the park in discussing his time in both series, the difficulties of setting a car up at Charlotte, his plans for the remainder of 2015 and more. 

The full audio cut of the interview is available below as well. We appreciate Ryan taking the time to talk with us.

RCO: Ryan, you’re here this weekend driving the Obaika Racing No. 97 in the XFINITY Series. You got this opportunity, along with Dylan Kwasniewski, through a fan vote, and you mentioned that this was one of the best teams you’d worked with. You’re smiling and it looks like you’re having a lot of fun with this so far.

RYAN: Absolutely.  I’m blessed just to have this opportunity.  There were a lot of really talented drivers nominated for this — 68, I think, in total.  I think 43 of them were actually eligible, meaning they had a license to compete in the XFINITY Series.  They narrowed it down to three based on nominations and then I got 55 percent of the vote out of those three.  That was pretty cool.  I have a lot of loyal fans out there!  NASCAR fans are intensely loyal, and to have that kind of a reaction is a blessing. It doesn’t look like a big opportunity from the outside because I’m in a car almost every week, but these full races are so  helpful for seat time, sponsors and experience.

RCO:  Now that you’ve been running some in both the Truck Series and the XFINITY series, what would you say the differences were between the two from a driving standpoint?

RYAN: I think you’ll find that a 20th place Truck series team is the equivalent of a 25th or 30th place XFINITY series team, just because there are so many more Cup teams in the XFINITY Series.  In terms of making the field, it’s actually a lot more difficult in the Trucks this year.  When they shrank the field down to 30 it’s really changed the landscaping in the back.  But it’s tough all around.  We’re fighting the same battle and budgets every weekend in both series, and the same people a lot of times, too.  I think the Xfinity series is just a little bit bigger of a platform to work off of, so the opportunities are a little bit bigger.  I’m just happy to be part of it.

RCO:  Getting an opportunity with this Obaika Racing Team, they’re obviously a new team and I’m sure they have goals as well as you having goals for yourself.  What are some of the goals for your partnership with them as far as the remainder of 2015?

RYAN: In a multi-driver situation, you always try to judge yourself by the others who drive the same car as you.  It’s tough because Dylan has gotten to drive some road courses and short tracks.  The mile-and-a-half tracks are a little bit harder on the smaller budget teams, but I would be really happy with a top 20 finish in a race like tonight.  That’s subjective to who finishes the race though, and how the pit stops work out, etc.  If we have a top 22 or 23 pace then we’re fighting with some of the teams with much larger budgets than we have and that’s all we can ask for.

RCO: Talking about Charlotte, this is the backyard of NASCAR, but it’s also one of the more challenging mile-and-a-half tracks to get figured out for a lot of drivers.  What are some of the tricks you’ve found through your experience so far to help you find some speed here?

RYAN: It’s difficult all around.  The Trucks are a little bit better, just because they have a little bit more sideforce, more aerodynamics.  You can get through turns one and two pretty much flat out in those.  In (the Xfinity car) it’s close, but you’re constantly reminded at this track that no matter how good you think you’re setting the car up, it’s never going to be perfect.  We went back and forth a hundred times with setup yesterday, but because turn four is so tough to get grip on and keep the car balanced, it’s just never going to be a case of finding a setup that makes the driver 100 percent happy.

RCO: You have five races including tonight remaining in this season.  What is the rest of this season and 2016 looking like for you? 

RYAN: It’s hard to tell.  We definitely have one Truck race left with the FDNY Chevy left at Talladega.  I’m hoping to do a few more Truck races than that, and of course I’m hoping to get back in the Obaika Racing Xfinity car later this year.  I have some big news that will be breaking probably next week or the week after, and for 2016 it really depends on the sponsorship, but we’d like to put the right things together to be in this (Obaika Racing Chevy) a lot more next year, and maybe some Cup stuff as well.  I really have to thank all of my loyal fans for making this opportunity possible.  I don’t know why they are a fan of me (laughs) or even how they found out about me, but I’m thankful for each of them.  I also want to say thank you to everyone who has given me a chance, whether it’s FDNY Racing, Rick Ware Racing, JGL, Make Motorsports, Obaika Racing and Vroom Brands…Ron Devine from BK Racing has been helping me a lot as well.  I just appreciate everyone who has been a part of this with me so far and I’m looking forward to the future!

RCO:  Thank you for your time, Ryan.  Good luck the rest of the season! 

Listen in to the complete cut of Race Chaser Online’s ‘Five in Five’ with Ryan Sieg:

About the Writer

Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network. Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.

The 21-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for both the United Sprint Car Series and the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.

Email Jacob at: [email protected]

Follow on Twitter: @Speed77Radio or @JacobSeelman77

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