Corey Day rim-rode and scrubbed his way to a thrilling NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series victory over Carson Kvapil in the Focused Health 302 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday, October 3.
The 20-year-old Day from Clovis, California, led six times for a race-high 136 of 201-scheduled laps in an event where he qualified on pole position, barely led the first lap from Sheldon Creed and was outdueled by the latter over the next eight laps before Day reassumed the lead on the ninth lap. Day proceeded to win the first stage period before he was shuffled back to fifth place to commence the second stage period. Despite not leading throughout the latter stage, he muscled his way to a runner-up result behind Sam Mayer.
Restarting in third place at the start of the final stage period with 103 laps remaining, it only took two laps for Day to return atop the leaderboard. Amid a late cycle of green flag pit stops, where Day pitted with 57 laps remaining before he cycled back to the lead five laps later, he was then mired in lapped traffic as the laps dwindled. This allowed Carson Kvapil to reel in for a late challenge.
Day would then lose the lead from Kvapil with 11 laps remaining while mired in heavy lapped traffic, but would regain it back a lap later following a strong momentous run from the outside lane followed by a crossover move through the backstretch. As Kvapil used the inside lane to mount side-by-side challenges in the closing laps, Day used the outside lane while nearly rim-riding towards the outside wall to maintain a slight advantage through the straightaways, Then on the final lap, Day brushed the outside wall twice (once through the first two turns and again through the final two turns), but used the outside lane to his advantage as he fended off Kvapil to notch a thrilling victory and maintain his championship hopes.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Corey Day secured his second O’Reilly Auto Parts Series career pole position with a pole-winning lap at 180.856 mph in 29.858 seconds. Sheldon Creed, winner of the recent O’Reilly event at Bristol Motor Speedway and current points leader, qualified in second place with a lap of 180.741 mph in 29.877 seconds.
Prior to the event, Garrett Smithley and William Sawalich dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments that were made to their respective entries.
When the green flag waved and the event commenced, Corey Day and Sheldon Creed dueled for the lead in front of the field that had fanned and scattered out through the first two turns along with the backstretch. Amid his side-by-side duel with Creed, Day led the first lap by 0.035 seconds. Creed would then motor ahead of Day and lead the second lap while Rajah Caruth navigated his way into third place. Behind, a tight battle for fourth place between Brent Crews, Sam Mayer, Brandon Jones, Justin Allgaier, Jesse Love and Taylor Gray ensued, with Crews retaining the spot as both Mayer and Jones gave chase behind Crews’ rear bumper. With Jones slipping to seventh place, Creed led by three-tenths of a second over Day by the fifth lap.
On the ninth lap, Day battled and reassumed the lead from Creed. Day led by nearly four-tenths of a second over Creed for the following lap as Caruth, Mayer, Crews, Love, Jones, Gray, Carson Kvapil and Justin Allgaier pursued in the top-10 spots, respectively. Meanwhile, Austin Hill, Parker Retzlaff and Sammy Smith were the three lowest-running Chase contenders on the track in the early stages as they were mired in 12th, 16th and 19th, respectively, while Day proceeded to extend his lead to nine-tenths of a second over Creed at the Lap 15 mark.
By Lap 19, Caruth battled Creed for the runner-up spot after spending the previous handful of laps reeling in the latter. With a power move to the inside lane through Turns 3 and 4, Caruth was then able to slide in front of Creed and defend the latter’s charge through the frontstretch for the former to retain the runner-up spot. In the process, Mayer reeled in and overtook teammate Creed for third place before he pursued Caruth for the runner-up spot. Meanwhile, Crews retained fifth place over Love, Jones, Gray, Allgaier and Ryan Sieg while Kvapil dropped to 11th place. As Mayer continued to pursue Caruth for the runner-up spot, both Crews and Love started to challenge Creed for fourth place while Day continued to lead by nearly two seconds.
Through the first 30 laps, Day was leading by more than two seconds over Caruth while Mayer, who also trailed Day by more than two seconds, trailed Caruth by half a second. Behind, Love was in fourth place ahead of Jones and Crews while Creed slipped to seventh place. Gray, Ryan Sieg and Allgaier occupied the remaining top-10 spots over Austin Hill, Kvapil, Harrison Burton, Jeremy Clements and William Sawalich while Retzlaff, Anthony Alfredo, Dean Thompson, Brennan Poole and Sammy Smith rounded out the top-20 spots, respectively.
Five laps later, Mayer executed a bold slide job move in front of Caruth through Turns 3 and 4 and prior to the frontstretch to assume the runner-up spot despite having Caruth draft the latter through the frontstretch. With Mayer starting to slowly build a gap over Caruth, Day was leading by more than three seconds and he stabilized the advantage at the Lap 40 mark while Mayer, Caruth, Love and Jones trailed in the top five, respectively.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 45, Day cruised to his third O’Reilly stage victory of the 2026 season. Mayer, Caruth, Jones, Love, Crews, Ryan Sieg, Gray, Austin Hill and Allgaier completed the top-10 spots, respectively. By then, eight of 12 Chase contenders (Day, Mayer, Caruth, Love, Jones, Gray, Hill and Allgaier) notched the event’s first round of stage points while the remaining Chasers that include Kvapil, Creed, Sammy Smith and Retzlaff settled in 12th, 14th, 18th and 20th, respectively. In addition, 24 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap.
Under the event’s first stage break period, the lead lap field led by Day pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Jones exited pit road first and he was followed by Caruth, Love, Mayer, Day, Crews, Sawalich, Allgaier, Gray and Ryan Sieg, respectively.
The second stage period started on Lap 53 as Jones and Caruth occupied the front row. At the start, Jones was quickly pinned in the middle of a three-wide move from Caruth and Mayer for the lead, with Mayer rocketing ahead with the lead. Caruth and Day would navigate their way into second and third on the track while Jones was trying to maintain fourth place in front of a stacked field for a full lap. Then during the next lap (Lap 54), Jones’ strong run at the front went south when he got loose in front of teammate Crews, veered sharply to the right and collided into the outside wall along with Allgaier, thus leaving both O’Reilly Chase contenders with heavy damage to their respective entries and knocking both out of contention.
The event’s next restart on Lap 62 featured Mayer retaining the lead from the inside lane through the first two turns while Caruth and Day battled for the runner-up spot in front of Kvapil, Sawalich and the field. Amid Caruth’s crossover attempts entering the frontstretch, Mayer led the next lap and retained the lead over the latter while Day also maintained third place. With the top-three contenders separated by within four-tenths of a second by Lap 65, Kvapil, Gray, Sawalich, Creed and Crews trailed the lead by a second from positions fourth through eighth while Jeremy Clements and Austin Hill followed suit in the top 10 had of Ryan Sieg, Love, Sammy Smith, Harrison Burton and Kyle Sieg, respectively.
At the Lap 70 mark, Mayer was leading by two-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Caruth while third-place Day trailed Mayer by six-tenths of a second and Caruth by four-tenths of a second. Behind, Kvapil and Gray occupied the remaining top-five spots over Sawalich, Creed, Clements, Crews and Love while Hill and Sammy Smith were in 12th and 14th, respectively. Meanwhile, Retzlaff, who made an unscheduled pit stop just past the Lap 60 mark to have a flat tire addressed, was mired just within the top-30 mark while a lap down as Mayer proceeded to extend his lead over Caruth up to nine-tenths of a second on Lap 75. With Day assuming the runner-up spot over Caruth shortly after, Mayer’s advantage grew by more than a second on Lap 80.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 90, Mayer captured his second O’Reilly stage victory of the 2026 season. Day, Caruth, Kvapil and Clements settled in the top five while Sawalich, Crews, Love, Gray and Ryan Sieg were scored in the top 10, respectively. By then, six of 12 Chasers (Mayer, Day, Caruth, Kvapil, Love and Gray) notched the event’s second round of stage points while the remaining Chasers on the track that include Austin Hill, Sammy Smith, Creed and Retzlaff were scored in 12th, 13th, 15th and 23rd, respectively.
During the event’s second stage break period, the lead lap field led by Mayer returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Sawalich exited pit road first and he was followed by Kvapil, Mayer, Love, Caruth, Day, Crews, Clements, Sammy Smith and Harrison Burton, respectively. During the pit stops, Mayer and Caruth were penalized and sent to the tail end of the field due to an uncontrolled tire violation.
With 103 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Sawalich and Kvapil occupied the front row. At the start, Sawalich motored ahead with the lead from the inside lane through the first two turns. He then managed to slide up the track entering the backstretch and stall Kvapil’s charge. This allowed Day to move into the runner-up spot over Kvapil as Sawalich led the next lap. Shortly after, Day side-drafted and overtook Sawalich for the lead for the next lap, with the former leading with 100 laps remaining.
Down to the final 90 laps, Day was leading by four-tenths of a second over Kvapil while third-place Sawalich trailed by more than a second. Behind, Clements retained fourth place over Love, Crews, Hill, Sammy Smith, Ryan Sieg and Harrison Burton, while Mayer navigated his way up to 12th place behind Gray. Meanwhile, Caruth battled Creed for 14th place while Retzlaff was mired the first competitor a lap down in 24th place.
Ten laps later, Day extended his advantage up to more than a second over Kvapil while Sawalich, Crews, Clements Love, Hill, Sammy Smith, Gray and Ryan Sieg followed suit in the top 10, respectively. Meanwhile, Mayer and Caruth trailed in 11th and 14th, respectively and Creed trailed Caruth in 15th place. Retzlaff was scored the second competitor a lap down in 24th place while Allgaier, who briefly returned on the track to overtake Jones (who had retired since Lap 54) for 34th place, officially retired for the event’s duration.
Another 15 laps later, Day stabilized his advantage by more than a second over Kvapil while Crews trailed in third place by four seconds. Meanwhile, Love, who trailed the lead by five seconds, occupied fourth place over Sawalich, Clements, Hill and Gray while Mayer was up into ninth place ahead of Ryan Sieg and Sammy Smith. With Caruth and Creed remaining in 14th and 15th, respectively, Day led by more than two seconds with 60 laps remaining.
Shortly after, a late cycle of green flag pit stops slowly commenced as Gray pitted from the top-10 mark. Dean Thompson and Sammy Smith also pitted with Gray before Crews, Mayer, Harrison Burton and Caruth pitted during the following lap. Runner-up Kvapil, Love, Sawalich and Ryan Sieg all pitted with 57 laps remaining before Day surrendered the lead to pit during the next lap along with Clements and Austin Hill. As the cycle of pit stops ensued, Anthony Alfredo and Jeb Burton, both of whom have yet to pit, took brief turns leading, with Alfredo pitting with 55 laps remaining and Burton being overtaken by Day three laps remaining. With the lead back in his possession, Day led by more than a second with 50 laps remaining.
Down to the final 40 laps, Day maintained a late advantage by more than a second over Kvapil while third-place Crews trailed by more than four seconds. Behind, Love and Gray occupied the top-five spots while Mayer was up into sixth place. Meanwhile, Caruth navigated his way into the top-10 mark in 10th place behind Clements, Sawalich and Ryan Sieg while Hill, Creed, Sammy Smith and Retzlaff were scored in 12th, 14th, 15th and 22nd, respectively.
With 30 laps remaining, Day added another second to his advantage as he led by two seconds over Kvapil. Behind, third-place Crews trailed by nearly five seconds and fourth-place Love trailed by more than nine seconds. The rest of the lead lap field, starting with fifth-place Gray, trailed by double digits as only 15 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap. Over the next five laps, Hill overtook Caruth for 10th place while Day had his advantage slightly drop to just above a second over Kvapil. With both Hill and Caruth overtaking Ryan Sieg to move into top-10 sots, Kvapil reeled in on Day, the latter of whom was struggling to navigate through lapped traffic, including Sammy Smith, for the lead by four-tenths of a second with 20 laps remaining.
As the event reached its final 15-lap mark, Day stabilized his advantage by four-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Kvapil while third-place Crews trailed by five seconds. Then three laps later, Kvapil, who continued to reel in on Day as Day was mired in more heavy traffic, including Creed, got beneath Day through the frontstretch. Both Day and Kvapil dueled for the lead for a full circuit until Kvapil used the inside lane to motor his No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro entry ahead through the frontstretch with 10 laps remaining. Day then used the outside lane to gain a strong momentous launch through the first two turns before he did a crossover move beneath Kvapil and stormed the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro entry back ahead entering Turns 3 and 4 along for the following lap.
As Kvapil continued to remain within striking distance behind Day’s rear bumper, Day led by two-tenths of a second with five laps remaining. Kvapil then used the inside lane to draw even with Day through the first two turns a lap later, but Day used the outside lane to mount ahead with the advantage through the straightaways. Both competitors used their respective lanes to mount side-by-side challenges as the laps dwindled.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Day and Kvapil were neck and neck for the lead as they even made contact through the frontstretch. While side-drafting Day prior to entering the first two turns, Kvapil appeared to motor ahead from the inside lane, but Day used the outside lane to ignite his charge prior to the backstretch. Despite scrubbing the outside wall, Day maintained his momentum to remain dead even with Kvapil. Following a brief duel through the backstretch, Day used the outside lane and a final scrub exiting Turns 3 and 4 to motor ahead of Kvapil. This allowed Day to beat Kvapil by 0.287 seconds to cash in on a thrilling victory in Sin City.
With the victory, Day notched his third NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series career win in his 39th start, his first victory since Dover Motor Speedway in mid-May and he became the third competitor to achieve three-plus O’Reilly victory this season. He also recorded the 25th O’Reilly victory of this season for Chevrolet and the third of this season for Hendrick Motorsports.
Prior to Las Vegas, Day was strapped in sixth place in the 2026 O’Reilly Auto Parts Series’ Chase standings and he trailed the points lead by 92 points. With his Las Vegas victory, the Californian jumped to fifth place and he trails the lead by 41 points with five Chase events remaining this season.
“I just was so tight there to end,” Day said on the frontstretch on the CW Network. “I was so scared I was gonna go down there and plow on the bottom and let [Kvapil] by me and then, just have no run. Man, just a great car. We struggled over the summer to tell you the truth. We won Talladega and Dover there pretty close. It just went dry, so it feels really good. A dominant day for us, for sure. That was badass. 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 there. We’re getting things rolling back in the right direction. My [No. 17] guys brought me a phenomenal race car. That’s a big part of it. We’ll just keep working.”
Meanwhile, Kvapil, who nearly achieved his third O’Reilly career victory, settled in the runner-up spot for a sixth time in his career and for a second time this season. Despite being left disappointed over falling short over his late duel with Day for the victory, Kvapil, like Day, made a huge gain in the Chase standings jumping from third to second in the standings. He now trails points leader Sheldon Creed by 19 points.
“There at the end, I thought [Day] was pretty stout,” Kvapil said. “He seemed to be kind of matching us or just barely pulling us. Some of that lapped traffic held him up there. I was able to find some speed in the bottom of [Turns] 1 and 2. Just never really tried the fence right, so I knew once I got in front of him, the only thing I could do to be best for me was probably just run the bottom. He just did a really good job running the top and hit perfect corner. It hurts, but I feel like we were in position. Just didn’t get a good run off of Turn 4.”
The fourth NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series’ Chase event of the 2026 season featured 15 lead changes for nine different leaders, and three cautions for 21 laps. In addition, 13 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.
Jesse Love navigated his way to a third-place result while Brent Crews (highest-finishing non-Chaser) and Taylor Gray finished in the top five. Sam Mayer rallied his way to sixth place in the final running order while Jeremy Clements, William Sawalich, Austin Hill and Anthony Alfredo completed the top 10, respectively.
With six of 12 Chase contenders (Day, Kvapil, Love, Gray, Mayer and Hill) finishing in the top 10 on the track, the remaining Chasers that include Rajah Caruth, Sheldon Creed, Sammy Smith, Parker Retzlaff, Justin Allgaier and Brandon Jones settled in 11th, 13th, 15th, 19th, 34th and 35th, respectively.
Race Results:
- Corey Day, 136 laps led, Stage 1 winner
- Carson Kvapil, three laps led
- Jesse Love
- Brent Crews
- Taylor Gray
- Sam Mayer, 40 laps led, Stage 2 winner
- Jeremy Clements
- William Sawalich, five laps led
- Austin Hill
- Anthony Alfredo, two laps led
- Rajah Caruth, two laps led
- Ryan Sieg
- Sheldon Creed, seven laps led
- Harrison Burton, one lap down
- Sammy Smith, one lap down
- Dean Thompson, one lap down
- Brennan Poole, one lap down
- Lee Pulliam, two laps down
- Parker Retzlaff, two laps down
- Kyle Sieg, two laps down
- Jeb Burton, two laps down, two laps led
- Andrew Patterson, two laps down
- Matt DiBenedetto, two laps down
- Patrick Staropoli, three laps down
- Garrett Smithley, three laps down
- Lavar Scott, three laps down
- Joey Gase, three laps down
- Josh Williams, four laps down
- Ryan Ellis, four laps down
- Josh Bilicki, six laps down
- Blaine Perkins, eight laps down
- Blake Lothian, nine laps down
- Mason Maggio, 26 laps down
- Justin Allgaier – OUT, DVP
- Brandon Jones – OUT, Accident, four laps led
- Dawson Cram – OUT, Transmission
*Bold indicates Chase Drivers
Following the fourth Chase event of the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season, Sheldon Creed continues to lead the standings by 19 points over Carson Kvapil, 22 over Jesse Love, 31 over Justin Allgaier and 41 over Corey Day. The rest of the 12-car Chase field is displayed below.
Chase Standings:
- Sheldon Creed
- Carson Kvapil -19
- Jesse Love -22
- Justin Allgaier -31
- Corey Day -41
- Sam Mayer -52
- Taylor Gray -91
- Sammy Smith -94
- Austin Hill -100
- Parker Retzlaff -117
- Brandon Jones -129
- Rajah Caruth -146
Next on the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series schedule is the Blue Cross NC 250 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, October 10, and air at 4 p.m. ET on the CW Network, PRN Radio and SiriusXM.
