Truck Series Opportunity ‘A Dream Come True’ For Day

Corey Day is set for his NASCAR debut in Thursday night's Craftsman Truck Series race. (Tanner Pearson/ARCA Racing photo)

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Corey Day walked down the banking Thursday morning at Bristol Motor Speedway wide-eyed and “ready to learn,” soaking in a moment he couldn’t have pictured when the year began.

The 18-year-old dirt superstar will make his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut under the lights at The Last Great Colosseum, taking his first true step into the pavement world after three years of blockbuster success across the country in sprint cars and midgets.

It’s a step that surprised not only Day’s passionate fanbase in the dirt short-track realm, but the Clovis, Calif., teenager himself when it all finally came together.

“Maybe right at six months ago, if you’d asked me, this was just coming onto my radar … but before that it wasn’t anywhere close,” Day admitted to Motorsports Hotspot in an exclusive interview ahead of his maiden Truck Series voyage. “I’m just super grateful to everyone that’s involved in this venture for giving me the opportunity, you know? Probably eight months ago, I didn’t even think [debuting in NASCAR] would ever be a possibility for me, so the fact I’m standing here is pretty cool.

“It’s one of the biggest moments I’ve had so far in racing, I think.”

That’s a statement that says a lot for a driver who has already become the youngest USAC National Midget Series winner in history; won back-to-back Gold Cup Race of Champions features, including this year’s which paid $100,070-to-win; a NARC-King of the West Sprint Car Series title; a World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series race at iconic Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway; and won his second-ever pavement late model race in April at Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway, all before his 19th birthday.

Most onlookers expected Day to become “the next big thing” in sprint car racing, racing alongside the likes of World of Outlaws champions Donny Schatz and Brad Sweet, as well as crown jewel winners David Gravel, Logan Schuchart, Tyler Courtney, and more.

But Day noted that the allure of asphalt racing – and the career stability that comes along with it – was something that nudged him toward at least giving the pathway a go.

“The career path of this [side] is, much more sustainable than the dirt path is. And that’s not to say you can’t make a good living running sprint cars, but it does take a lot to do any be successful on that kind of level,” Day explained. “I just never really thought that this would be an opportunity I could explore. Most kids get into this [by] paying nowadays, and my parents don’t have that type of money, so I never dreamed it would be a realistic option for me and was cool with running sprint cars my whole life.

“But when I got the call that we were going to be able to do some pavement stuff, man, it was a dream come true, for sure.”

With the support of Hall of Fame team owner Rick Hendrick and his Hendrick Automotive Group dealership network, Day will seek to begin down the same road that now-Hendrick Motorsports driver and NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson traveled en route to success in the stock car world.

In fact, Larson has lauded Day as being “better than I was at his age,” a level of support that Day said doesn’t go unnoticed or unappreciated.

“To know that Kyle and Mr. H have the level of faith in me that they do … I think they probably believe in me in this more than I believe in myself,” he said. “But that’s good. It’s cool that Kyle has taken notice of my ability and [that] he thinks I can do this. I’m beyond grateful for HendrickCars.com’s support in this and Mr. H’s support and Chevy’s support too.

“I can’t thank Kyle, especially, enough for telling these guys that I can drive race cars and that I deserve a chance like this,” Day added. “That’s the biggest thing to me in my mind.”

Corey Day in action during his ARCA Menards Series debut at Salem (Ind.) Speedway earlier this summer. (Tanner Pearson/ARCA Racing photo)

Day does have one long-distance stock car start to his name already, having made his ARCA Menards Series debut in late July at Salem (Ind.) Speedway. He qualified fifth and was running inside the top 10 when he was involved in a second-half crash and eliminated after 132 of 200 laps.

He’ll actually get to run double duty on the Bristol high banks, competing in the 200-lap ARCA race Thursday afternoon before his Truck Series debut later in the night. It’s the first of four scheduled Truck Series races this fall for Day.

As for his goals? Day said he just wants to finish, with clean vehicles and experience under his belt at the end of the day.

“I want to do all 200 laps of both races; I think that’s probably the biggest thing for me, is getting the experience of these long races. That’s the biggest thing that I’m not used to, where our [sprint car] races are 30- or 40-lap sprints, and not a 200-lap grind,” he noted. “There’s a lot more that goes into them. So, for me, just learning how to race for 200 laps and telling myself that there is another lap to make something happen … where in our racing there’s not and you’ve got to go and take every single chance you have … that’s what I need to make sure I keep reminding myself of.

“Everyone knows how competitive I am, and of course I’d like to win if that’s a possibility … or have top fives and top 10s, but as long as we do finish all the laps, I think that good finishes will come out of that.”

Aiding in that mission is the fact he’ll get to run two races in the same day, providing he qualifies his No. 81 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing-prepared Chevrolet Silverado RST in on speed for the Truck Series race.

That’s something that Day said “will help, a hundred percent” as he adapts his driving style to the asphalt world.

“Not only will double duty help me at Bristol, it’ll also help me just get more laps on the pavement in general,” he explained. “Where I’m not learning a track and then having to go to a different track the next week and relearn that track, I can kind of hone a lot more skills and have a better idea of what the track’s going to do throughout the night.”

So, does Day view Bristol as the first step toward the next phase of his career?

“I think so,” he said, a faint smile on his face. “These six [pavement] races I’ve got left, between Trucks and ARCA, will definitely kind of set the tone for what next year looks like for me … and even years after that, potentially “I’m hoping it all goes well and hoping that I can just have some good runs here.

“It’s a unique opportunity to be able to run two cars in one day and to get to do that for the next two weekends, so we’re just going to try and make the most of it, and we’ll see where things go after that.”

Day’s ARCA appearance with Pinnacle Racing Group, the Bush’s Best 200 at Bristol, kicks off at 5 p.m. ET, with the Craftsman Truck Series’ UNOH 200 following at 8 p.m. ET with McAnally-Hilgemann Racing.

Both events will be broadcast live on FS1 and the Motor Racing Network.