Corey Day had the dominant car Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but he had to fight for every inch of racetrack in the closing laps to finish the job.
Day outdueled Carson Kvapil in a thrilling back-and-forth battle over the final 10 laps, using the high side of the 1.5-mile oval to regain the lead with two laps remaining and win the Focused Health 302 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race.
The 20-year-old Day was the class of the field for much of the afternoon, leading a race-high 136 of 201 laps in the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. After starting from the pole and winning Stage 1, Day returned to the lead on Lap 100 and controlled much of the second half of the race.
“We had a great car, man!” Day said, post-race. “It feels good to dominate, for sure… that was badass.”
But Kvapil made him earn it over the closing 10 laps. The two traded the lead as Kvapil worked the bottom and Day searched for speed inches from the outside wall. Kvapil grabbed the lead again on Lap 199, but Day refused to abandon the high side. Coming to the white flag, the two made contact as Day squeezed his Chevrolet against the wall, staying in the throttle and using every inch of racetrack available. Day powered back ahead, then kept Kvapil behind him through the final two corners to win a frantic dash to the checkered flag by just 0.287 seconds.
“I’m bummed out.” Kvapil said, post-race. “It’s hard to run that good and be that close… [Day] did a good job running the fence there in Turns 3 and 4 and didn’t make a mistake. I felt like we did our part.”
The victory was Day’s third of the season and third in 39 career O’Reilly Auto Parts Series starts. It was also his first victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where he now has three top-10 finishes in three starts.
Justin Allgaier and Brandon Jones both saw their afternoons come to an early end following an incident shortly after the conclusion of Stage 1. Jones, who had led four laps earlier in the race, was involved in an incident with Allgaier in Turn 2 that brought out the caution on Lap 56. Jones was credited with 35th after completing 54 laps, while Allgaier finished 34th after completing 56.
Their trouble opened the door for several other championship contenders to capitalize. Kvapil did exactly that – after starting ninth, he worked his way toward the front and nearly stole the victory from Day in the closing laps before settling for second.
Jesse Love finished third, rookie Brent Crews was fourth and Taylor Gray completed the top five. Mayer, Jeremy Clements, William Sawalich, Austin Hill and Anthony Alfredo rounded out the top 10.
Mayer's sixth-place result came after he won Stage 2 and led 40 laps, second only to Day. The afternoon left Sheldon Creed atop the championship standings by 19 points over Kvapil heading to the next race.
Tomorrow, the stars of the NASCAR Cup Series take to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the South Point 400. Defending race winner Denny Hamlin will lead the field to green from the pole as he looks to cut into Kyle Larson’s championship lead. Tickets are still available! Fans can visit lvms.com/tickets to secure their seats.
