NASCAR on TV this week

Truckin’ Thursdays: Is Corey Day on Track for Truck Series Starts?

If you’re a NASCAR fan and you haven’t heard the name Corey Day, you better get used to it real quick.

Day is one of the hottest prospects on the dirt scene right now, and he is currently signed with Chevrolet and the JR Motorsports pipeline. He recently made his transition to pavement and late models, and with that came his ARCA Menards Series debut at Salem Speedway back in July with Pinnacle Racing Group.

See also
Entry List: 2024 General Tire 100 at the Glen

Day is scheduled for two more ARCA starts in the PRG No. 28, at yet-to-be-disclosed racetracks. However, Day has sponsorship from HendrickCars.com, which likely means he’s in the Hendrick Motorsports pipeline for the long haul. That also means Truck Series starts may not be far off for him.

By “not far off”, I mean as soon as the end of this year.

According to DIRTRACKR, Day is rumored to make some starts before the end of the season, possibly beginning with the next race at Bristol Motor Speedway next Thursday (Sept. 19).

Originally thought to be driving the Spire Motorsports No. 7, a recent update states that those starts may come with McAnally-Hilgemann Racing in the No. 91. The only race that Spire’s No. 7 does not have a driver for is the season finale at Phoenix Raceway, which Day could theoretically slot into. However, MHR’s No. 91 has yet to find a driver for Talladega Superspeedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Day is 18 years of age, so he would be eligible to run both Talladega and Homestead if the seat was available for him to do so. With more races available to him in the MHR No. 91, it does kind of make sense for Day to make some starts there, though he could still run the finale with Spire.

See also
Reel Racing: Casting the 2024 Fall Darlington Movie Adaptation

There is one conflict of interest though. Day is rumored to make his truck debut at Bristol Motor Speedway. But Jack Wood, the primary driver of the No. 91, is scheduled to drive the truck at Bristol per his website.

Of course, things change sometimes. Wood hasn’t entirely impressed in his Truck Series starts and is also more focused on chasing an ARCA West championship. It’s entirely possible that Day could get the seat for Bristol if the money is there.

Regardless, a Truck Series start for Day before the end of 2024 doesn’t seem out of the cards. He has the talent, and even though he hasn’t run many races on asphalt, his lone start in ARCA proved that he could hold his own against the frontrunners of the series. He was on track for a top three, and potentially even a sneaky win, before crashing late in the event.

And who know? Perhaps it could be a trial run for any sort of expanded schedule for 2025 with MHR or Spire. Hell, he could even be auditioning for a completely full-time ride come next season, potentially leapfrogging Wood for the opportunity in the process.

Aside from Connor Zilisch (who coincidentally also drives the PRG No. 28 in part-time in ARCA and full-time in ARCA East), Day is seen as one of the biggest and most talented prospects from the grassroots scene. Some people have compared him to fellow dirt track/NASCAR star Kyle Larson for his talent behind the wheel.

That’s high praise to be compared to one of the greatest drivers of this generation.

Which is why I say again to all NASCAR fans: Get used to the name Corey Day. You’ll be hearing it for a while.

Maybe as soon as this Truck Series season.

Truckin’ Tidbits

  • Justin Mondeik has signed a two-race deal with Young’s Motorsports. He will drive for the team in the next two races at Bristol Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway. While one could assume Mondeik will drive a third Young’s truck – the No. 12 or No. 20 — even this isn’t a given. The team chose to field Dexter Bean in its No. 02 truck at the Milwaukee Mile, a truck originally driven full-time by Mason Massey. No reason was given by the team for choosing to outright replace Massey with Bean instead of fielding a third truck for Bean. This leaves Massey’s status with Young’s unclear, as at the very least, his full-time endeavor is no longer one.

About the author

Frontstretch.com

Anthony Damcott joined Frontstretch in March 2022. Currently, he is an editor and co-authors Fire on Fridays (Fridays); he is also the primary Truck Series reporter/writer and secondary short track writer. He also serves as an at-track reporter and assists with social media when he can. A proud West Virginia Wesleyan College alum from Akron, Ohio, Anthony is now a grad student. He is a theatre actor and fight-choreographer-in-training in his free time.

You can keep up with Anthony by following @AnthonyDamcott on X.

Sign up for the Frontstretch Newsletter

A daily email update (Monday through Friday) providing racing news, commentary, features, and information from Frontstretch.com
We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else.