NASCAR News: Corey Day gets his first O’Reilly win at Talladega

TALLADEGA, Ala. — In the unpredictable furnace that is Talladega Superspeedway, lightning struck for 20-year-old Corey Day on Saturday afternoon.

The California sprint-car phenom, making his first full season in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, drove the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to victory in the Ag-Pro 300 — leading only the final lap and turning a chaotic, last-lap scramble into the defining moment of his young career.

Day crossed the line under yellow and checkered flags, earning Hendrick Motorsports its first series win at Talladega and handing the organization its 100th victory across NASCAR’s national touring series. The moment was made even sweeter by the presence of former NFL star Jason Kelce, who suited up in Hendrick blue and worked tires on pit road as a guest crew member for the day.

“I sure as heck didn’t think it would be at a superspeedway,” Day said with a wide grin in Victory Lane. “My 17 guys just built a rocket ship. We’ve been close a few times this year — had a good day at Rockingham and a couple other solid runs — but we just hadn’t finished it off. This is super cool.”

The race lived up to Talladega’s reputation for mayhem. There were 38 lead changes — the most at the track since 2013 — and just four cautions, the fewest since 2022. Yet the real drama unfolded in the final five laps.

Pole-sitter Jesse Love led a race-high 37 laps in the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet and looked poised for the win until the field stacked him up with six laps to go. Sheldon Creed, driving for Haas Factory Team, seized the lead momentarily, only to see teammate Sam Mayer surge to the front with two laps remaining in a three-wide battle that also included Day.

Then came the inevitable Talladega wreck.

Contact in the frantic pack sent Mayer and two-time Talladega winner Jeb Burton hard into the outside wall, collecting several others and triggering the final caution. When the smoke cleared, Day had slipped through the chaos to steal the victory—his first in the series.

Rookie Brent Crews delivered a career-best runner-up finish in the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Creed salvaged third and pocketed the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus for the second consecutive week.

“This place is wild,” Creed said. “It’s hard to be too mad about third when so much can go wrong so fast. Taking home the Dash 4 Cash again is really special—huge thanks to the guys back at the shop.”

Sammy Smith finished fourth in the No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, extending the team’s remarkable streak of top-10 finishes to 68 races—the second-longest in series history. Veteran Jeremy Clements drove his own No. 51 Chevrolet to a strong fifth-place result, the best showing for an independent team since 2022.

Rounding out the top 10 were Dean Thompson, Jesse Love, Brandon Jones, Parker Retzlaff, and Austin Green. JJ Yeley was the lone Ford in the top 11, an impressive effort in the 38-car field.

Stage Notes
– Stage 1: Carson Kvapil (JR Motorsports)
– Stage 2: Justin Allgaier (JR Motorsports)

Both JRM teammates were hit with mid-race green-flag penalties for impeding traffic and could not recover, with Allgaier finishing 23rd — his season-low. Despite the setback, Allgaier maintains the championship lead by 105 points over Creed.

Post-race inspection in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series garage was clean, officially locking in Day’s landmark victory. The Nos. 2, 8, and 19 cars will head to NASCAR’s Research & Development Center in Concord, N.C., for further teardown.

Day, Crews, Creed, and Smith will all be eligible for next week’s $100,000 Dash 4 Cash at Texas Motor Speedway, where reigning Cup Series champion Kyle Larson is the defending winner in the Andy’s Frozen Custard 340.

For one afternoon in Alabama, though, the spotlight belonged to a 20-year-old sprint-car star who proved he belongs—even on NASCAR’s biggest, wildest stage.

2026 Ag-Pro 300 Race Results