Corey Day exited the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Chicagoland Speedway third in the points. Multiple races later, the picture looks different.
The first 20 races of the 2026 O’Reilly season were very successful for the 20-year-old’s first full-time asphalt campaign. Day earned two victories, six top-5s, and fourteen top-10s in this stretch.
As any young driver does, Day still made mistakes. Most notably, he hooked Ryan Sieg in the wall at EchoPark Speedway and turned Connor Zilisch at the Circuit of the Americas. Despite these, the driver of the Hendrick Motorsports No. 17 Chevrolet Camaro seemed to learn quickly and emerged as a realistic championship contender. The only drivers who earned more points than him were Justin Allgaier and Jesse Love, the last two series champions.
Summer Slide
Corey Day tangled with fellow Chase driver Taylor Gray in the wall, ending his return to EchoPark on Lap 112. This DNF relegated him to 32nd-place after earning points in both stages. Following this race, Sheldon Creed passed him in points. The next race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway saw a seventh place result, but a victory from Carson Kvapil vaulted him to second in the standings and moved Day to fifth in points.
The young driver had his second DNF in four races at Iowa Speedway which marked yet another day where Day earned points in both stages resulted in a finish outside the top-30. Despite this, he remained fifth in points entering the regular season finale at Daytona International Raceway.
At the ‘World Center of Racing’, Day fell a lap down and finished 29th-place. This, along with both Austin Hill and Brandon Jones finishing top-5, Day entered the Chase as the seventh seed.
In the four races entering the Chase, the Californian lost four spots in the points. This cost him 20 points in the Chase reseeding.
Entering the Chase: Rivalry with William Sawalich
On paper, the Chase opener at Darlington Raceway was a success for Day. A runner-up helped him climb two spots in the standings to fifth. However, there was one consequential moment in the race.
On Lap 68, non-Chase driver William Sawalich slammed the wall after contact with Day. The No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota GR Supra slid back the track and turned across the No. 17’s nose. In the ensuing caution, Sawalich found Day and door-slammed him multiple times to express his displeasure. Day rebounded to second, but Sawalich fell to 30th-place.
“We’ve had a lot of run-ins through the season and he blamed them all on me,” Sawalich said. “So I don’t really know.”
Day disagreed with this assessment.
“I just feel like ever since earlier in the year when I’ve gotten into him I’ve apologized, I’ve owned up,” Day said to Frontstretch. “He’s just held that grudge for me, always ran me out of room when he can and packed air on me when he can. He’s just done things that he didn’t need to do, but he’s gonna do it just because he can. So I’m over it. It’s Chase time, he’s not in the Chase, so I’m not gonna let him ruin my day.”
Sawalich did not ruin his opponents day at Darlington, but was able to at Gateway. On Lap 133, the rivals made contact racing for position. With contact from behind from Justin Allgaier, Day was pushed into Sawalich’s left side, setting the JGR driver off. This caused him to make a sharp turn into Day’s door, slam him into the wall, and ending his race. A 33rd-place result was Day’s third DNF in the past six races, causing him to exit the race eighth in the standings.
Looking Forward
Corey Day went from appearing to be a championship contender to sitting 69 points behind points-leader Sheldon Creed. Although he could mathematically win the championship, the odds are against him. Day finished top-10 at all six Chase tracks the series raced at in the spring, including three top-5 results and a victory at Talladega Superspeedway.
Similar results will likely see the 20-year-old return to the top five in the standings. However, with where he sits in the standings, it will take several top-5s and multiple victories to return to realistic championship contention. Additionally, it will be necessary to have clean races and avoid making enemies such as Sawalich.
