Corey Day wins O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Dover
- TSN MOTORSPORTS INSIDER
- May 19
- 2 min read
Twenty-year-old Californian Corey Day surpassed veteran Justin Allgaier with four laps to go, securing his second career win in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series on Saturday at the BetRivers 200, marking his first appearance at Dover Motor Speedway.
Allgaier, a three-time winner this season and the current championship leader, seemed poised to secure another victory at Dover’s famous “Monster Mile.” However, Day expertly maneuvered the high line near the outside wall, passing Blake Lothian’s lapped car alongside Allgaier, and ultimately pulled ahead, distancing himself from Allgaier in the final moments.
This move allowed Day’s No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to achieve a 0.461-second win over Allgaier, who led a race-high 71 of the 200 laps. This victory follows Day’s first career win at the series’ largest track, Talladega Superspeedway, just three weeks earlier.
“I was really hoping it would turn out this way. I conserved a lot during the early part of the last run after we changed tires. When the yellow flag came out, I thought it might become a caution-fest, but fortunately, everything worked out well,” exclaimed an elated Day, who enthusiastically congratulated his crew during the cool-down lap. His mentor, reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson, watched with a smile from the pit stand.
“This victory feels incredibly rewarding,” said Day, who led only the final four laps. “The Talladega win was unexpected at a superspeedway, but we truly earned this one.”
On Saturday, Allgaier, who is already the season's top winner with three victories, extended his championship points lead to an impressive 175 points over Sheldon Creed of the Haas Factory Team, who finished 18th.
Allgaier admitted he was disappointed and perhaps frustrated with a lapped competitor playing such a significant role in determining the outcome of Saturday's race.
"It was a good teaching moment," Allgaier said after discussing the incident with Lothian on pit road post-race. "He made a move to the inside and then back outside, and I just couldn't tell which lane he would choose. Unfortunately, it allowed the 17 (Day) to get to my outside.
"But credit to Corey and the entire 17 team. He was closing in on me at the end. I'm proud of our team. It wasn't the day we wanted initially, but the team worked really hard all day. It's disappointing to leave with a second place after leading so many laps at the end, but hats off to Corey and everyone on that team."
The race included nine caution periods and involved a lot of short-run strategy.
Creed’s Haas Factory teammate Sam Mayer finished third. Joe Gibbs Racing’s William Sawalich came in fourth, and Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill secured fifth place, marking the perennial championship contender's best finish since a second-place result at the Circuit of The Americas road course in March.
JGR’s Brandon Jones won the first stage, and NASCAR Cup Series regular Ross Chastain won the second stage after leading the field four different times for a total of 68 laps. Chastain's chance at a trophy ended just past the race's midpoint when he and JGR’s Taylor Gray collided and spun out.
JR Motorsports’ Carson Kvapil finished seventh, extending the team's top-10 streak to an extraordinary 71 races. Ryan Sieg, Sammy Smith, and Anthony Alfredo completed the top 10.
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