“When Kyle Larson and Jeff Gordon say someone is the real deal, it certainly gets your attention.” Rick Hendrick needed all the evidence he needed to rope in Corey Day in his team – and that does not happen easily. For over four decades, Hendrick Motorsports has been the trademark of brilliance in NASCAR. Holding 315 Cup Series victories and 14 championships, the HMS team consists of only the highest-performing people. Getting in this fold is no mean feat – but Day did it.
The 2022 Chili Bowl Rookie of the Year already has a glittering resume. Corey Day has won several sprint car events, including multiple World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series and High Limit Sprint Car Series features. But the new chapter in his journey is still making the 19-year-old phenom blink twice.
Corey Day confesses giddy emotions
Well, every stock car racing aspirant dreams of getting into NASCAR. What is more, every such dreamer has an inventory of favorite teams to join – Hendrick Motorsports usually dominates this list. Corey Day had the same dream. With the help of his sheer talent and resources, Day turned that dream into reality. Last year in September, he made his Craftsman Truck Series debut in Bristol in a HendrickCars.com truck. He completed a combined 405 laps at the 0.533-mile bullring and notched 18th place, leading HMS crew chief Greg Ives to say, “I feel like he did a good job.” That was only the beginning, as HMS signed on the youngster for a part-time schedule in ARCA, Trucks, and Xfinity in January 2025. This overarching confidence that the sport’s winningest team had in Day still leaves the latter with starry eyes.
In a recent episode of Davey Segal’s ‘Victory Lane’, Corey Day did not mince his words about bubbling emotions inside. Segal asked him how Day felt snuggling with the sport’s biggest stars, and Day said he was still rubbing his eyes to see if it was true. “Yeah, I mean, it’s super cool. It all happened just so fast that nothing ever really hit me in the moment, like a big ‘Holy Crap’ moment. I didn’t have one of those. I kind of expected that but I never had that. I think it’s been kind of like a slower realization like, ‘Holy crap, this is my life now and I am a NASCAR driver.’ That part of it’s really cool.”
“It all happened so fast that nothing really hit me in the moment.”
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As part of the induction ceremony, HMS threw Corey Day the most pleasant surprise. The team posted a picture featuring him and all four HMS Cup drivers – Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman, and William Byron. That left Day stunned, to say the least. The young speedster continued, “I guess one of the big moments was when I saw – they posted a picture of all five of us releasing the schedule for the Xfinity car. Yeah, that was just a realization for me…I am in a picture with Hendrick Motorsports, four drivers, and the fifth driver. Super cool, (something) I never really thought would happen as a 19-year-old kid. So yeah, it’s just awesome.”
Rick Hendrick has immense confidence in Corey Day – because Kyle Larson’s endorsement went above and beyond. The driver who battles with Max Verstappen for a ‘World’s Greatest Racer’ title spoke highly of Day. “Of guys who haven’t made it to the three series in NASCAR yet … he’s definitely the best prospect out there,” Larson told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “I definitely endorsed him for sure because I’ve gotten the chance to race with him and firsthand see how good he is.”
And the 19-year-old racer is already delivering spectacularly. Corey Day’s resilience as a driver was visible recently in a chaotic NASCAR race.
Day powered through a tough day
Well, the topmost headline in the Xfinity Series so far in 2025 must have come from Martinsville Speedway. The Marine Corps 250 race saw impassioned and aggressive moves on the racetrack. Most notable among those was the encounters between old rivals Sammy Smith and Taylor Gray. Their rivalry climaxed on the last lap when Smith rammed his car into Gray’s and spun off a multi-car melee. At the same time, Rick Hendrick’s young recruit was quietly making the best out of a chaotic day. Corey Day qualified 8th and was running well initially. But then contact from behind sent him into a wheel hop and his car plowed into the fence. Day fell two laps behind and nursed his damaged car. However, caution flags allowed him to get back on the lead lap. He rallied to finish just outside the top 20 in the 21st spot.
What is more, Corey Day had to drive without power steering for the last 75 laps or so. “The caution laps were harder to drive without power steering than the green-flag laps were,” Day said. Despite the chaotic day, Day spent 250 laps learning what he had to do. “Definitely a lesson on never giving up. We spent 150 laps two laps down and ended up not last and on the lead lap. With how bad everything went, it was still positive in that aspect – I never gave up, the team never gave up, so that’s good. Getting to race around cars is huge too. Figuring out where my tires are – the wheelbase is shorter than the (NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series truck), the body is different.”
Evidently, Corey Day is paving his path in the tough world of NASCAR. With Rick Hendrick and his team’s support, the youngster can carve out wonders.
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