NASCAR
Corey Day Takes Second Career O’Reilly Win in First Dover Start
DOVER, Del. – Top O’Reilly Series rookie Corey Day put on perhaps his best showing yet Saturday at Dover Motor Speedway. The 20-year-old in Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 17 Chevrolet tracked down and passed Justin Allgaier inside five laps to go. Hanging on to steal Miles the Monster, Day picks up his second career triumph in a month’s time. Lapped traffic definitely assisted Day in ending his Dover debut on top.
Both opening stages were largely clean and green, going to Brandon Jones and Cup Series star Ross Chastain. Chastain’s march to victory only became derailed after damage from a loose Taylor Gray forced several pit stops for the No. 9. This opened the door for JR Motorsports teammate and points leader Justin Allgaier, who took the lead and ran away with it.
.@Taylor_Gray goes around while pushing for the lead to bring out yet another caution. pic.twitter.com/fw6YgcMXGN
— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) May 16, 2026
Over the run to the checkers, however, Corey Day slowly made inroads on the No. 7’s rear bumper. Day caught Allgaier with four laps left and made the winning pass on the outside splitting lapped car Blake Lothian. Day is now a two-time O’Reilly Series winner, with both victories coming in the last four weeks.
“Man, I was hoping that’s how it would play out,” Day said. “I saved so hard there early in the last run once we put on tires. And the yellow came out and I thought, awe, this is just going to be a caution fest and it was all for nothing. But oh man, it all just worked out good. This one feels really, really good. The Talladega one was unexpected at a superspeedway, but we earned this one.”
Behind Day and Allgaier at the finish were: Sam Mayer, William Sawalich, and Austin Hill. The rest of Dover’s top-10 were: Brandon Jones, Carson Kvapil, Ryan Sieg, Sammy Smith, and Anthony Alfredo. Thanks to his runner-up result, Allgaier now has a commanding 175-point championship lead over Sheldon Creed.
O’Reilly Series cars will be back in action Saturday from Charlotte Motor Speedway. The Charbroil 300 goes green at 5 p.m. ET on The CW, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Allgaier will try and rebound from Dover with another lights-out Charlotte run.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo credit to Meg Oliphant/Getty Images
