Corey Day finds another lane to beat Carson Kvapil in Vegas
Updated: 2 hours ago
by Crystal Clay
LAS VEGAS — Corey Day thought Carson Kvapil had him beat. Then Day found speed up by the wall.
The Hendrick Motorsports rookie and Kvapil traded the lead four times in the final 12 laps of Saturday’s Focused Health 302 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. After Kvapil moved ahead with three laps remaining, Day surged back past him on the next lap and held on to win by 0.287 seconds.
Day, 20, started from the pole, won the opening stage and led a career-high 136 of 201 laps. The victory was his third in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, and his first since Dover earlier this season.
“I really thought that was it,” Day said of Kvapil getting to his inside late in the race. “I didn’t think there was really another lane that I could get by him in.”
Day had spent much of the race running in the middle lane, but found grip near the fence when he needed it.
“Fortunately enough, I just kind of went to the fence and found speed there,” he said. “I was able to get back to his inside, and I put him away there for a couple laps. He got back to me, but, yeah, I was just able to find enough.”
The move came with Day’s car tight and Kvapil’s loose, the drivers said afterward. Day kept his foot down through the closing laps, even as he brushed the wall.
“I thought that was my best opportunity to win, was to stay on the throttle as hard as I could,” Day said. “I wasn’t listening, that’s for sure.”
Kvapil, 23, led three laps and was looking for his third win of the season, after victories at Indianapolis and Iowa. He said his car worked well on the bottom, but Day’s late run on the high side made the difference.
“I knew once I got in front of him what would be best for me was to run the bottom,” Kvapil said. “He ran the top and just hit a perfect corner.”
Day called the battle a potential race-of-the-year candidate, though he said being the driver under attack was more stressful than fun. He had led most of the race and didn’t want to give away the win in the closing laps.
The result also mattered for Day’s championship hopes. He entered the race fifth in the standings, with five races remaining, and said his team needed a strong points day after a difficult stretch. Day also called Las Vegas his favorite track, recalling that it was the site of his first top-five run in a stock car.
Reigning series champion Jesse Love finished third. Brent Crews was fourth, followed by Taylor Gray and Sam Mayer, who rebounded to finish sixth after a pit-road penalty sent him to the rear during the Stage 2 break. Mayer had won the second stage and led 40 laps.
The race was a setback for regular-season champion Justin Allgaier. On Lap 55, he was collected when Brandon Jones’ car drifted into his No. 7 Chevrolet in Turn 2. Both drivers were towed to the garage. Allgaier returned with 84 laps remaining and completed one lap, finishing 34th. He dropped from second to fourth in the standings, 31 points behind leader Sheldon Creed.
“It’s been pretty frustrating,” Allgaier said. “But we’ll go next week and try to win another race.”
The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series heads to Charlotte Motor Speedway next Saturday for the Blue Cross NC 250.
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