NASCAR
Corey Day Tames Talladega Superspeedway for Maiden O’Reilly Series Win
TALLADEGA, Ala. – California dirt track phenom turned top rookie on Saturdays, Corey Day took a massive leap in his NASCAR career. After being in the right position on the last lap at Talladega, a timely caution gave the 20-year-old prodigy the biggest win of his life. Day’s NASCAR progression has been on light speed this season, now with nine top-10s in the last 10 weeks.
Day only led the last lap of Talladega, with the day largely dominated by RCR’s Jesse Love. The No. 2 Chevrolet started on pole, led a race-high 37 laps, and was shuffled out of the lead with six laps left. The opening stages were taken by JR Motorsports teammates Carson Kvapil and Justin Allgaier. Both of these fast Chevrolets, however, incurred late blend line violations.
Once Love was disposed of, both Haas Factory teammates Sheldon Creed and Sam Mayer swapped the top spot amongst themselves. Mayer spinning out of a fight for second place was the first last lap trouble. In turn three, several cars were collected after Ryan Sieg lost control. A yellow prior to the finish gave this victory to the Hendrick Motorsports newcomer.
Day had some extra celebrity help fueling him to Talladega victory lane. Former NFL center and Super Bowl LII champion Jason Kelce suited up in Hendrick blue to help the No. 17 team carry tires, hand fuel cans over the wall, and hold their pit sign.
WHAT A RACE!!!@corey_day_ is victorious in a WILD finish at Talladega! pic.twitter.com/DibthcpX7i
— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) April 25, 2026
“Well, I sure as hell didn’t think it would be a superspeedway,” Day said. “It’s awesome. The Hendrick legacy is so strong at superspeedways, and my 17 guys just built me a rocket ship, so shoutout to Adam, Decker, Jordan, Michael, everyone back to the shop that builds these things every week for me. I feel like we’ve been close, had a good day at Rockingham and a couple others, and just didn’t finish it off. So it’s super cool.”
“When I got shucked in the middle there with five to go, whatever it was, that was it, and I was going to drop. I got help, I don’t know who it was, but thank you, whoever it was. Just so cool. I mean, like I said, I did not think it would come at a superspeedway. So, yeah, it’s awesome. Thank you Mr. Hendrick so much for believing in a sprint car kid from California that never ran a pavement car in his life before two years ago. Thank you Mr. H., Jeff Andrews, my biggest supporter, Jeff Gordon, just everyone that believes in me, it’s so much fun.”
“Yeah, honestly, I think [the 17 team] more capable than I am for sure. Glad to just be proven for how good as it is. Thanks to all my 17 guys, they bust their butts every week, and do such a great job bringing me fast cars to the track. Thank you HendrickCars.Com, Chevrolet, just everyone on the 17 and with Hendrick Motorsports who believes in me. It’s a lot of fun.”
