18-year-old dirt racing prodigy Corey Day to make NASCAR Truck Series debut at Bristol
This week is a big one for Corey Day. The sprint car prodigy is starting to move to pavement and that means a Truck Series debut. It will be very interesting how the driver adapts to NASCAR.
Corey Day has more wins in the High Limit Series than any driver this year. At 18 years old, Day is making his Truck Series debut at Bristol Motor Speedway. The Last Great Colosseum.
HendrickCars.com is sponsoring him for four races, including Bristol. Day is scheduled to race at Martinsville, Kansas, and Homestead-Miami with Bill McAnally Racing.
If you are impressed with Connor Zilisch, keep an eye on Day. He may have a longer adjustment period, but people in the know can’t talk enough about his potential and current talent.
This means HendrickCars.com will have not one but two trucks on track. Rajah Caruth is carrying Hendrick as a full-season sponsor this year. The 71 and the 81 on the track this week should be fun to watch.
When I was in Sonoma earlier this year, Kyle Larson was high on Corey Day and his talents. It is no wonder a deal has been worked out with Hendrick to get him in some ARCA and Truck Series races.
With how good Day has been in sprint cars and how quickly he learns, I don’t think the learning curve will be too great. He won his first late model feature ever at Hickory earlier this year. I don’t think he will win at Bristol, but he might surprise a lot of people in the process.
Corey Day seen as next big thing from dirt
There is always a prospect or a group of drivers being hyped up. Many have been called the next big thing and not worked out. But Corey Day, and this new crop of drivers coming up through the ranks are, as far as I can tell, the real deal.
Drivers like Day, Zilisch, Carson Kvapil, Jesse Love, and potentially a few more are performing at high levels at an early age, and these are just the Chevy drivers. Kvapil is the oldest at 21 and Love is in a full-time season in the Xfinity Series right now. But those drivers all have the makings of Cup Series regulars.
Day is competing against sprint car veterans and future Hall of Famers, champions and superstars right now. And he’s winning. Not just once or twice, but racking up multiple wins, totaling 8 so far this season alone.
Corey Day is going to make his NASCAR debut in the Truck Series on Thursday night. Day will race against Connor Zilisch and a talented field in the ARCA race that afternoon as well. It will be a true who’s who of prospects in the East Series finale.