By David Morgan, Associate Editor
TALLADEGA, Ala. – Corey Day started the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season drawing the ire of his competitors, but as the season has progressed, he has slowly turned things around.
Now he can call himself an O’Reilly winner after capturing the checkered flag in Saturday’s Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway, putting his No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet out front at the right time when the caution flew on the final lap to secure him the victory.
“I sure as hell didn’t think it’d be at a superspeedway,” Day said of his first career win. “It’s awesome. The Hendrick legacy is so strong at superspeedways. My 17 guys just built me a rocket ship. Hats off to everyone back at the shop that builds these things every week for me.
“I feel like we’ve been close, led a lot of laps at Rockingham and had a couple of other good days and just didn’t finish it off. It’s super cool.”
Day, making his 22nd start in the O’Reilly Series in his first full-time season in NASCAR’s second-tier series, started the day in third place and led just one lap, but it was the most important one – the last lap.
Battling with Haas Factory Team teammates Sheldon Creed and Sam Mayer on the final lap, the three Chevrolets were all in the mix for the win before Mayer was spun off the nose of William Sawalich on the backstretch.
Day kept digging in the lead as the field powered into Turn 3 for the final time before more chaos erupted behind him, with a multi-car crash bringing out the yellow flag, freezing the field and ending the race with Day being credited with the victory.
Brent Crews would be scored in second-place, with Creed finishing in third and taking home the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash prize. Sammy Smith and Jeremy Clements would round out the top-five finishers.
The remainder of the top-10 went to Dean Thompson, Jesse Love, Brandon Jones, Parker Retzlaff, and Austin Green.
COREY DAY IS A NASCAR O'REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES WINNER! pic.twitter.com/GqzuzaMzv2
— NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts (@NASCAROReillyAP) April 25, 2026
“I thought when I got shucked to the middle there with five to go or whatever it was, that was it and I was going to drop,” Day explained. “I had help, I don’t know who it was, but thank you whoever it was. Just so cool. Like I said, I did not think it would come at a superspeedway.
“Thank you Mr. Hendrick for believing in a sprint car kid from California who never drove a pavement car in his life before two years ago. Thank you Mr. H, Jeff Andrews, my biggest supporter, Jeff Gordon, everyone that believes in me. It’s so much fun.”
Mayer would be credited with a 25th place finish after his last lap spin.
“We were cooking, that’s for sure,” said Mayer. “The Audibel Chevrolet was really, really fast today. The fact that we were even in that spot to have a shot at it after almost getting spun off [Turn] 2 and saving it and rallying back up through the field is a ton of fun.
“…Just really thankful to be able to be here and be able to contend for wins. I felt like it was going to be a really good finish. I know the 00 [teammate Sheldon Creed] was up there too. It was going to be awesome.”
JR Motorsports teammates Carson Kvapil and Justin Allgaier won the first two stages of the race, but pass-through penalties on Lap 73 for both cars impeding other competitors dropped them out of contention and they would wind up finishing in 22nd and 23rd place, respectively.
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