NASCAR CHAMPIONSHIP MEDIA DAY

November 5, 2026

Corey Day

Press Conference

An Interview with:

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: Like an 8 or 9. Pretty confident, yeah. Lower than you thought? No, I'd say, yeah, 8 or 9. I mean, there's a chance still, but yeah, I think I just need to win points in the first two stages and win the race. Pretty simple.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: Doing it is not simple, but what I need to do is very simple, so...

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: Win. Get a couple of points and win. It's pretty -- yeah, the task is simple, but yeah, doing the task is the hard part.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: It does, yeah. All things considered, this should be a very good place for me and our car. Yeah, I'm a lot happier the championship race is here this year than Phoenix. That's for sure.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: I think, yeah, we have the JRM affiliation. Yeah, we have that JRM affiliation, but at the same time, yeah, we knew what those guys got, and we know what they've had here in the past. We're very confident in our stuff this weekend.

So Kyle was very good in the 17 last spring when they raced here. You know, I think we've honestly made our car a little better since then. So, yeah, just excited to get going.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: Yeah, we have, you know, whatever data they can get. There's not really a ton of data for the O'Reilly Series compared to the Cup Series, but yeah, we've studied it all.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: Yeah, it's a lot of fun. It's just super high fall-off. You know, I enjoy that as well, as I'm sure a lot of these other guys enjoy that too. Yeah, high fall-off. There's no trial vol, which is different for an intermediate, but I prefer the symmetry of it, although it's still not very symmetrical. One and two and three and four are very different.

Yeah, I enjoy it. It's a proper oval.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: Well, you can always hope to be here, but it's not really what I had in mine. I didn't think it would get this far.

So, yeah, I think, you know, at the beginning of the year I wanted to win a race, and I wanted to be in the chase for sure, whether that was last in 12th or fifth or first. I just wanted to be in it at all. I've exceeded my goals for the preseason goals, for sure.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: Yeah, I've talked to him quite a bit. Super fortunate to have his notes from when he ran the 17 here last year and just what he felt on how he went about his race and all those things.

If the restart goes better for me at the end of the race, they win. So, yeah, I think overall there's a lot for me to dive into on that side of things, and I did this week. Probably spent the most time on sim that I have ever. Just want to do make sure I crossed all my Ts and dotted all my Is.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: I do, yeah. Yeah, I think any track that's high fall-off like this is good for us as well, as good for our car. I think we build really good long run cars. Yeah, I hope to get a lot of long runs this week, not have a caution-filled race. Yeah, go run the fence.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: Well, I mean, what we need to do to win the championship is simple points-wise. It's get a couple in the first few stages, and it's 20 points to win the race.

We've talked about that part of it, but you know, other than that, not a whole lot. Just kind of how we can win normal week to week, like, preparement.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: Yeah, he's great. He does a great job. He started at Hendrick Motorsports 15 years ago sweeping the floors, and now he's a crew chief. You know, love his story, love his work ethic, love his thought process about things. He's super calm and never really gets worked up and always is just grateful to be in the position he's in.

I enjoy him a lot in that sense of he's just always -- no matter good, bad, or whatever, it's always, you know, we're in a good mood and we can do it again next week.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: Yeah, yeah, he's just always, you know -- I think he realizes, and I realize too, that we have the coolest job in the world. We get to drive and work on race cars for a living, so could be much worse.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: That's a big word. What does that mean?

Q. Fear.

COREY DAY: Fear, okay. Thanks.

Q. You and I talked a little bit last week after the finish. You said, I've never run here. Was there any trepidation at all? You have run a sprint here, but not an O'Reilly.

COREY DAY: I think I'm a lot better in an O'Reilly car than I was in a truck. I'm trying to look at stuff glass half full, not glass half empty.

Yeah, these guys will have laps on me for this place, but they've had laps on me all year long. Yeah, I don't think I'm in a different position than I've been all year. I actually have more laps here than I would at other new places I've been to.

So, yeah, I think overall I know the track for the most part, and I know the car now too. So just putting them together in practice and, yeah, going and go fast.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: I'm further along than I thought I'd ever be, so I want to win now that we're in a position to win, but if I don't win, I've won three more times than I wanted to win this year. I'm a lot better in points than I ever thought I was going to be. Win, lose, or draw, it was a great year.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: I think if you'd asked me that question in, like, March or April I would tell you, yes. After Dover, I knew our ceiling was a lot higher. I knew we could win more races and have more success.

From Dover on, putting that together was a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. I kind of thought at that moment everything clicked, and we were going to be able to start knocking out not saying wins, but good runs. It didn't go like that.

We had a dry summer and kind of struggled, but you know, I knew if we could get back to the form we're in right now, then we'd have the success we're having.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I think, you know, this is probably where we wanted to be next year. Not this year. Yeah, proud of all my guys. It takes them doing their job every week and bringing me fast cars to do what we've been doing.

So appreciate them and just their hard work and their belief in me through all the ups and downs this year. It's been really cool to race with the group I get to race with.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: I wanted to win, win a race, and I wanted to make the chase, so we've exceeded those so far.

Q. (Inaudible). What would it mean to you to win the NASCAR O'Reilly Championship?

COREY DAY: Yeah, it would be huge. You always dream about winning championships and having the success like this, but you never know if it's going to happen or not. Especially for my background, I never thought this would happen. I thought I would just race sprint cars for the rest of my life, and I was okay with that.

So you talk about being ahead of schedule, I'm already ahead of schedule. I'm miles ahead of schedule. So, yeah, it would be unbelievable.

Q. What do you think was the spark for that 17 team after a relatively tough (inaudible)?

COREY DAY: I think we got to race together a lot last year and spend a lot of time together. So it did get off to a rough start this year, but regardless of the mistakes, our finishes were good right off the start. We were putting stuff together really as the season started.

Yeah, I think just we were fortunate. I think we only had one change in our personnel this year, so really had the same group that was working together about every single week. I think that that's big thing and building team morale and how you perform every week.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: Yeah, we talked. I'm not going to tell you what we talked about, though. Got to keep that private.

But, yeah, I definitely feel good about it. Like I said, the 17 was really good here the last time he was in it. I think we've made some gains on our car since then. I feel confident in my ability to do it.

I'm not going to overthink it. Like I said, the task is simple of what we need to do. Just need to go do it.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: It was. I don't know if it's the same car or not. I haven't asked those questions, but I'm sure it's a good one, nonetheless.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: Yeah, I'm pumped for sure. I think, like I said, I wanted to win a race. We've won four. I wanted to make the chase. We're third and in contention to win at the last race. Yeah, super happy with how it's going.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: I would say, yeah. Yeah, a little bit for sure. I think this is where we wanted to be next year, not this year. Yeah, happy with where we're at for sure.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: Yeah, I mean, there's definitely -- you know, we talked about a bunch of different possible outcomes there. You know, if the caution were to come out late in the stage, but not late to where it's going to be in that ten-lap window, then there could be some guys that pit and flip it. That's not ideal for the next stage, but you know, we have more tire sets than we've had all year long.

Yeah, I think there will be some strategy if there is cautions. If there's no cautions, it will be pretty straightforward.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: I think it's different for everybody. It's different for everyone's car too. I think if your car is leveling good, and you're turning the bottom or the middle well, you can make that work while you can and probably for longer than others.

If you're a little tight, you probably get to the fence a little sooner, save your stuff. I don't know. There's a lot of different things you can do from the seat that kind of project what you need to do in that sense.

So, yeah, I'm sure it will be different for everybody.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: Yeah, so I think, you know, as a dirt guy, you know me, Bell, Larson, Reddick, all of us get really used to feeling everything off our right rear of the car, not the right front.

Now, you don't want to be sideways on the fence, but you feel -- I feel at least, my personal opinion, is you feel more of it with the right rear of the car than you do with the right front of the car. I think that's part of my success on intermediates too is just you drive the car off the right rear on an intermediate.

You're always at the limit of right rear grip. You're not at the limit of right front grip. Where if you go to Martinsville, you're usually at the limit of the right front grip, and you drive off the right front. It's just a completely different feel. A guy like Kvapil or Allgaier that have grown up driving stock cars are used to the right front of the car, and that's how they feel things, whereas I'm used to the right rear.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: That was a really hard thing for me to learn was just I'm very in tune with the feel of my race car and just everything about it. Learning that was hard because I get used to, you know, a 1,400 pound, 900 horsepower sprint car that does wheelies and moves around and has big tires and big sidewalls. So learning my feel for things and being able to feel limit of grip, all of that was difficult, but I feel like that was a huge turning point for me once I figured all that out.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: For different things at different times. I'd say for being able to win races, Dover was kind of the one where I figured out how to do it. Being able to recreate it took a little bit, but I'd say that was a big one.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: Yeah, it's definitely something to learn. You know, we don't really save tires ever in a dirt car. I think if the track takes rubber early in the race, it will be the only time you do. You drive a dirt car with a throttle. You don't drive a stock car with a throttle. You drive with the steering wheel.

The processes are very different, and the thought process about everything is different too. So, yeah, I don't know. It's been, you know, something to learn for sure, but at the same time, it is, you know, at the end of the day, pretty simple. Just don't drive through the front tires; don't spin the rear tires. I think it's easy to over-complicate.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: Kind of like I do every other weekend. I am way ahead of where I ever thought I'd be. To have a shot to win a championship is awesome. We're going to do everything we can to try and make that happen. If we run fifth in points after today, it's still a great year.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: No, it's just a normal race, yeah.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: No, no, I'll just hang out, yeah. Go drive around. I'm staying in Miami, so go check that out. One of my buddies is flying in this weekend, so go get him from the airport and just hang out.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: Probably, like, eight to ten I think, so a little bit.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: It's a Dover car, yeah. It's a good car, yeah.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: I don't know. I don't know. I just know it's a Dover car.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: Yeah, he was obviously a crew chief and an engineer long before I was in the sport, so I think he's done a phenomenal job at kind of being very, I guess, open to my way of doing things because my way of doing things, the way I see things and think about things are not the way that other guys he's worked with in the past have.

So he's great. I love his thought process. His attitude is always good. Yeah, he's just been a blast to work with.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: Not really. No, I've been more kind of focused on this. I don't really have too many details about that yet, so I'm not going to overthink anything.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: I am, yeah. Super excited. It's going to be a steep learning curve, that's for sure, but nothing new. I'm excited for the challenge.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: I have other stuff. Yeah, I'll go -- next weekend we run the HANGTOWN 100 and the midget out in California, and then I'll do the rest. I think there's seven races out there. I'll do those. Those are all close to home.

I spend my off seasons in California, so it's all close to home just like I was a kid growing up racing.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: I'll do Turkey Night and then I'll go to Australia late December and run the High Limit race and run Boxing Day over there, yeah.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: I really don't no. I don't know many details on that. I've been, you know, I think -- I think everyone has been more kind of focused on this year for us. I think we're in a better place than we all thought we would be, so everyone has been putting a lot into that.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: I don't really have any details on that either. I don't really know. I think it would be super cool. Any time that the Cup guys can drive an O'Reilly car, whether it's the 88 or whatever it was this year, it always benefits us with just their feel for things and everything like that.

I think it would be super cool, but I don't have any details on it.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: Yeah, trying to pick up anything and everything I can really. They all do things very differently from, you know, whether it's Chase Briscoe ran the 19, and Kyle, William, and Chase have all ran the 88. There's been a lot of guys to look at this year. Chastain has been in the 9. They all do things differently. Being able to pick up things here and there from all of them has been cool because that's a level we all want to race at one day.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: Yeah, we've talked this week kind of about the track more than my championship situation. I think he's one of the best here, if not the best here.

I've just picked his brain on some things and his thought process about things. Yeah, he's been a big help, that's for sure.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: Yeah, I think Vegas was really cool. That was a lot of fun. You know, when I look back on the it, I'm glad I came out as a winner on that one, for sure, but yeah, I don't know. That's just kind of my style showing itself of kind of never give up and always moving around to find new lines and everything. It was cool to kind of put that on display for everybody.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: There's been too many to just kind of pick one, but yeah, I don't know. It's been a really challenging year in many ways, but also very rewarding.

Yeah, I don't know. I think just kind of keeping a level head through everything. I've always thought that, but really been super heavy on that this year.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: Yeah, it's all different. I think, you know, Dover, Charlotte, and Vegas are all super high grip intermediates, as well as Kansas. Kansas has a lot of fall-off, but it's still a lot higher grip than this.

I think it's definitely very different, and the way you do that on a place like this at Darlington compared to those on the higher grip things are places you run a lot more throttle, and it's a lot less kind of proximity to the wall. You want to have proximity to the wall, but you have the grip to pull off the wall or kind of do whatever you need to do.

Whereas a place like this, when it gets late in a run like that and you're sliding around, you're reliant on that wall effect to hold you there and to make speed. So, yeah, I think it's going to be tough learning that and not overdoing it, to tell you the truth.

You obviously don't want to go find that limit in practice and knock the right side off the thing. I think that's something that I'm thinking about. But other than that, yeah, I'm very confident in my feel for the car right now. I feel like I've got that in a really good position. Yeah, I'm hoping that that can be on display.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: Yeah, that's the toughest part. You know, it depends a lot on your car, too, kind of how your car progresses over a run. Some people will swing free. Some people will swing tight. Just feeling that the best I can the first run of the race and having a good idea about where that line is because if you're tight, the line is in a lot of different spots than if you are loose.

Yeah, I think just kind of feeling that. Kyle can run around here with his eyes close, I feel. He doesn't even need to look where he's going. Hopefully after 200 laps I feel that way.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: Yeah, I don't know. I mean, it's cool that we're in position, right? It's cool we're going into the final race with a shot at it. I think I'm happy about that in general. Whether win, lose, or draw, I'm happy about where we're at. Yeah, I don't know. It's just another race.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: Yeah, we've talked this week about his thought process on things. I think that's a big thing. You know, his thought process is probably going to be still a little different than mine, but just knowing his helps, for sure.

Yeah, I don't know. I think I'm obviously not him; he's not me. I'm not going to go do exactly what he's going to do. I can try, but it's not going to be the same.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: (Inaudible). Did you ever deliver that message? How did you look at it?

COREY DAY: Yeah, that was funny. That was cool. Yeah, that's probably the one time so far in my stock car career that I've out-Kyled Kyle.

Yeah, I don't know. I mean, obviously he's in a Cup car. I'm in an O'Reilly car. I'm sure if I was it in a Cup car, I wouldn't be have able to do that. I don't know. Cool, though.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: Yeah, I mean, you know, what fans might not know is when you get up to the wall, the car kind of makes a buffer with the air and the wall, and that's kind of why we do it because there is that effect that helps you make speed. It's not just that's where the most grip is at. There is grip up there, but it's more for that kind of effect.

Kyle has mastered that, and that's why he's so good here is he can be just right as close as you need to be to the wall the whole way around to be in that effect. In turn, that's how he goes fast and saves his tires doing it.

Yeah, it's an art, for sure.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: Yeah, the closer you get to the wall, the more the exhaust echoes off of it. The exhaust is right there in front of the right rear tires. The closer you get, the louder it gets, and you can kind of tell by doing it a lot. You can tell how far away or how close you are by how loud that sound is.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: Yeah, I've got to race here twice, and yeah, it's just super cool. I mean, being in Miami is awesome. I think it's a different fan base for us too. People in Florida go to Daytona obviously, but we're more south than we get ever here.

Yeah, it's super cool. Just the vibe of the track is cool. I'm from California, so any time I see palm trees or anything like that is always a lot of fun for me.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: Yeah, I think all the Jimmie Johnson championships here were super cool. Those are definitely ones that I watched and paid attention to as a kid.

Yeah, I think, like you said, the track has a lot of history. It's aged a lot since then. The style of racing is way different now than what it was then. So it's cool to look back on all that and kind of see how it's changed over the years.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: Not maybe as much as people would think, but I definitely did talk to him, yeah.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: I feel good. It's an intermediate, so I feel good no matter what. But, yeah, I feel as good as I can. I'm happy the final race is here. I would probably preferred Vegas over this, but that's about it. I like my odds here, that's for sure.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: Yeah, a lot different, that's for sure. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, the year has obviously gone very well. I've proved myself to myself as well, as a lot of other people. That weight is kind of off the shoulders.

I always knew I could do it, but I needed to prove that to myself and prove it to other people. So, yeah, I feel good about that.

Yeah, I am relaxed. The task is simple. I've said it a couple of times, but I need to win the stages, and hopefully get a couple of points on the 7 and win the race. I mean, doing the task is hard, but what we need to do is pretty simple.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: I mean, the week was pretty standard all in all. It's kind of how we always prepare for the race. I'm down here a day earlier than I usually come down. I usually don't come until Friday.

Yeah, other than that, it's just a normal week preparing, doing sim, preparing with my team. Yeah, talked to Kyle a little bit about just kind of how he goes about things here. Yeah, just go race.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: Yeah, we haven't talked this week. Yeah, I think it's every man for themselves this week.

Q. (Inaudible).

COREY DAY: Oh, yeah, probably not. Yeah, yeah.