Corey Day eyes another top-10 in controversial but quick year

LAS VEGAS — Corey Day’s first full NASCAR season has seemed like snake eyes but hasn’t been far off of a natural after just a few races.

Day enters Las Vegas Motor Speedway with three consecutive top-10 finishes, including top-five finishes. However, he is also had to shake off a shifty reputation some on-track incidents have stirred up for him.

At EchoPark Speedway Atlanta, Day made contact with Ryan Sieg that caused an incident early on in the race. Then, after an incident with quasi-teammate Connor Zilisch, Dale Earnhardt Jr. confirmed Rick Hendrick talked with Day.

The talk seemed to cut through the noise of the week but Day still needed a clean run at Phoenix to magnify his so-far stellar stats and not everything else.

At Phoenix, Day started eighth and stayed consistent through the first stage – placing seventh when the stage ended on lap 45.

Then, on pit road, Day had trouble getting into his box. He stopped the car before going outside of the box but lost time having to adjust after his car was parked too far over to the left for his crew to service it.

Day dropped outside of the top-20 for the subsequent restart. However, he kept trekking forward – finishing 15th in the second stage – and avoiding the chaos toward the end of the race.

Ultimately, the 20-year-old driver finished ninth. While the result was good, he mulled some of the faults and how he could do better.

“I think overall I struggled firing off on restarts. That made our bed and was playing catch up after that for most of the runs. Then, I had a bad stop, slid through and sloppy green flag stop and all that. I just need a lot of clean up for me,” he said.

Day said he needed more right-rear grip to make the car better. However, he was happy with getting four stage points and appreciate Hendrick’s support.

Day said he needed more right-rear grip to make the car better. However, he was happy with getting four stage points.

“[Hendrick’s support] is huge. I think, especially with weeks like last week and what went on, it just shows how great Rick Hendrick, Jeff Andrews, Jeff Gordon is, everyone at Hendrick Motorsports is second to none. I’m fortunate to have those guys in my corner who believe in me, sometimes more than I do,” Day said.

Day sits eighth in NOAPS points, 66 points out of the lead but 24 points ahead of the cutline.

Next is Las Vegas Motor Speedway where Day impressed in the fall.

Day started 19th but found himself inside the top-10 by the time the second stage ended on lap 90 of 200. Midway through, he was seventh and chipped away at the field, ultimately jumping to fourth at the finish.

Day ended with the second-best pass differential of the entire field. He made 78 green-flag passes and was passed 56 times. He also netted the eighth-best driver rating and held his own against drivers in the Chase at the time.

Hendrick Motorsports has never won at Las Vegas in NOAPS. Their best finish was second with Kyle Busch in spring of 2007.

If Day can win at Las Vegas, he will become Hendrick’s first Las Vegas NOAPS winner and the 183rd winner in NOAPS history.

Day will also run a sprint car Thursday through Saturday in the High Limit Series.