When Corey Day snared his third NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series victory this year at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, it put the Hendrick Motorsports driver back in contention for this year’s title.
Day edged JR Motorsports driver Carson Kvapil by a slim 0.287 second in a torrid duel that consumed the Focused Health 302. The two young drivers exchanged the lead four times in the final 12 laps of the 201-lap event. Day, who has a dirt racing background, chose the high line, often brushing the wall, while Kvapil elected to wrap the inside of the track.
“I just was so tight there at the end and I was so scared I was gonna go down there and plow on the bottom and let him by me and then just have no run, be able to do nothing,” said Day, who led six times for 136 laps.
“We struggled over the summer, so (this) feels really good.”
Kvapil, who could have taken the lead in the standings with a victory, admitted the loss hurt. He said he was in position but just didn’t get a good run off the fourth turn on the final lap.
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Corey Day (#17) passes Carson Kvapil (#1).
“I never really tried the fence,” Kvapil said. “I knew once I got in front of him, the only thing that I could do to be best for me was probably just run the bottom. He (Day) just did a really good job of running the top and hit a perfect corner.”
The cars driven by Day and Kvapil were both equipped with Hendrick Motorsports engines and chassis, and Kvapil said he believed the two of them were the class of the field.
“I don’t really think anybody else really had anything for us,” Kvapil said.
The second-place finish was Kvapil’s best at Las Vegas and on a 1.5-mile track.
With five races left in the Chase, there are now six drivers within 52 points of the lead. Kvapil pulled within 19 points of standings leader Sheldon Creed, who finished 13th. Jesse Love trails Creed by 21 points. Justin Allgaier, who dominated the series regular season, got caught in Brandon Jones’ accident in the second turn and was eliminated from the race after 56 laps. Allgaier, who finished 34th, is now fourth in the standings, 30 points behind Creed. Then comes Day in fifth with Sam Mayer in sixth, 52 points down.
“I knew we’d be able to be a title contender from the start of the year, but like I said, just had a dry summer,” Day said.
A North Carolina native, Deb Williams is an award-winning motorsports journalist who is in her fourth decade covering auto racing. In addition to covering the sport for United Press International, she has written motorsports articles for several newspapers, magazines and websites including espnW.com, USA Today, and The Charlotte Observer. Her awards include the American Motorsports Media Award of Excellence, two-time National Motorsports Press Association writer of the year, and two-time recipient of the Russ Catlin award. She also has won an award in the North Carolina Press Association’s sports feature category. During her career, Deb has been managing editor of GT Motorsports magazine and was with Winston Cup Scene and NASCAR Winston Cup Scene for 18 years, serving as the publication’s editor for 10 years. In 2024 she was inducted into the NMPA Hall of Fame.