2026 High Limit Racing Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway

With Kyle Larson In His Corner, Corey Day Delivering For Hendrick

With Kyle Larson in his corner, Corey Day is beginning to find his stride racing for Hendrick Motorsports in the NASCAR O'Reilly Series.

May 1, 2026 by Lee Spencer

Highlights | 2026 High Limit Racing Thursday at Texas Motor Speedway4:14

FORT WORTH, Tex. — Hendrick Motorsports’ California contingent was well aware of Corey Day long before the teenager’s name began circulating through the stock car world.

NASCAR’s most successful organization has benefitted from a Golden State pipeline since Jeff Gordon joined the company in 1992 and delivered Rick Hendrick’s first Cup title three seasons later.

Over the last three decades, Hendrick has amassed 15 championships, 13 of which came with Californians behind the wheel, most recently Kyle Larson in 2025.

But it was Day, Hendrick’s latest discovery, who scored the juggernaut’s last win in the NASCAR O’Reilly Series at Talladega Superspeedway last Saturday.

Jeff Andrews, HMS president and general manager, has been with the motorsports giant for every title and 343 victories throughout Cup, O’Reilly, trucks and ARCA—including Day’s first last weekend.

The engine-builder-turned-executive moved from Team Penske to Hendrick in 1991. Still, the Fresno, Calif., native’s racing background is deeply rooted in dirt.

“In that central California sprint car area, it’s a pretty tight group,” Andrews said. “My dad and my brother and another gentleman had an engine business there that I worked at before I left to come race professionally.

“Cars that Ronnie Day (Corey’s father) drove out there were a customer of my dad’s engine business. So I had that tie. I knew and had seen Ronnie at some races—and I’m talking quite some time ago.

“But I always had a great relationship with Ronnie, and appreciated what he’s done in his own career. He was a very good sprint car driver on the West Coast.”

So when Andrews’ brother recommended the younger Day, he took the tip to heart. With the approval of Gordon, now vice chairman and co-owner of HMS, and Larson’s side-by-side experience with the now-20-year-old driver, it was easy to vet the youngster from Clovis, Calif.

“You start hearing and watching, whether it’s micros or midgets or sprint cars, and I’m still a fan—a huge sprint car fan,” Andrews said. “I grew up at a lot of sprint car races on the West Coast, so I keep up with it.

“My brother Craig is probably one of the ones who said early on, ‘I don’t know if you’re watching, but this Corey Day is doing some great things out here.’ From there, obviously him running with Kyle and Jeff Gordon noticing him as well—Jeff just has a tremendous eye for talent—came the decision to bring him on last year.”

Larson was 19 when he first entered the stock car ranks. The Elk Grove, Californian ran a full season on the ARCA Menards Series East tour while dabbling in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series and ARCA.

After securing the 2012 ARCA East title, Larson made his O’Reilly Series debut the following year with Turner Scott Motorsports and ran four Cup races with Harry Scott. He joined Chip Ganassi Racing’s Cup program in 2014. But it wasn’t until moving to Hendrick in 2021 that Larson won his first of two Cup championships.

Day’s path has been somewhat similar. At 18, he ran a variety of ARCA, truck and Trans Am races while still competing full-time on dirt. Last season, Hendrick split Day’s time between the O’Reilly Series, where he competed in 11 races, and the truck and ARCA series.

Larson is uniquely qualified to advise Day on the transition from dirt racing to stock cars. Although his career didn’t start with HMS, he understands the obstacles.

“For me, it was less about the driving and more about dealing with such a big race team,” Larson said. “And he’s dealing with probably an even bigger one. When you grow up racing sprint cars, it’s you plus two or three other mechanics. And then you come into NASCAR, and especially at Hendrick Motorsports, it’s you plus hundreds of employees.

“So, that was difficult and still to this day is. That’s probably a thing people don’t think about that to me was just challenging because it was so different.

“But he’s handled all of it pretty well. I think once you come to NASCAR, you grow up quickly. That was something I needed and something I’m sure he’s going through right now.”

Larson sits on the pit box when Day races in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, but he doesn’t really consider himself a mentor. Still, he’s there to be a sounding board if needed.

Ultimately, Larson feels his greatest contribution was helping Day get “a foot in the door.”

“He’s been doing a really good job here lately,” Larson said. “He’s done great job of progressing through his stock car career. It’s been fun to watch him learn so fast—and then deal with the drama along the way with him crashing people and not letting it mentally get to him.

“He can still go out there and compete smarter, but still be aggressive.”

Having watched and raced against Day in the O’Reilly Series, Larson predicted last Saturday morning at Talladega that the No. 17 Hendrick team was close to getting its first win. Hours later, Day won the Ag-Pro 300.

“I feel like he’s right there on the cusp of his first win,” Larson said at the time. “And once that first win comes, it will make the next ones much easier. A-Wall (crew chief Adam Wall) and everyone on the No. 17 team have done a phenomenal job, too.

“They have a great team, and he’s been really consistent. That’s good in this format and hopefully, he can build on that and be ready to go once the Chase starts.”

Larson could likely find a gig with California Psychics if he lost his day job, but all the signs were there.

Day had nine consecutive finishes of 12th or better leading into Talladega and lead-lap finishes in eight of those nine races. He posted multiple laps led in three of the last four races—including a sweeping of the stages at Rockingham Speedway on April 4, where he lost the lead and likely the race, in the pits.

Every time Day returned to a track where he had previously raced, he made solid strides. And although he had never raced at the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway, Day proved to be a quick study by using the first two stages to learn and then capitalize at the finish.

Under the tutelage on Hendrick Motorsports, Day scored his first O’Reilly victory in his 22nd start. Larson’s first win on the tour came in his 38th attempt. Both Andrews and Larson were waiting for Day when the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet rolled into Victory Lane.

“It’s cool, he’s obviously a big part of this,” Day said of Larson. “Just super fortunate to have him on my side. Any time things aren’t going well I can ask him a question. And when they are going well, he’s the first one to tell me, ‘Good job!’

“Yeah, it’s super cool to have him in my corner, as well as everyone at Hendrick Motorsports. I couldn’t be in a better spot for resources and just people who believe in me. Super blessed.”