May 16, 2026 | By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service

Corey Day outruns Justin Allgaier late to win NASCAR O'Reilly Series race at Dover

DOVER, Del.—Twenty-year-old Californian Corey Day took the lead from veteran Justin Allgaier with four laps remaining to claim his second career NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series victory Saturday in the BetRivers 200 in his first Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway start.

Allgaier, a three-time winner already this season and the current championship leader, looked poised to add yet another trophy at Dover’s famed Monster Mile, but ultimately Day was able to run up high against the outside wall – he and Allgaier splitting Blake Lothian’s lapped car – with Day pulling ahead of the three cars and driving away from Allgaier.

It was enough momentum to propel Day’s No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to .461-second victory over Allgaier, who led a race high 71 of the 200 laps, and it answers Day’s career first victory at the series’ largest track, Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway coming only three weeks ago.

“Man, I was hoping that’s how it would play out, I saved so hard there early in the last run once we put on tires and the yellow came out and I thought, awe, this is just going to be a caution fest and it was all for nothing, but oh man, it all just worked out good,” said an elated Day, who screamed congratulations to his crew on the cool-down lap. His “mentor” reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson, sitting in the pit stand, was all smiles watching the outcome.

“This one feels really, really good,” Day said. “The Talladega one [win] was unexpected at a superspeedway, but we earned this one.”

Already a series best three-race winner this season, Allgaier’s effort Saturday boosted his championship points advantage to an amazing 175 points over Haas Factory Team’s Sheldon Creed, who finished 18th.

Allgaier acknowledged he was disappointed – perhaps frustrated – with a lapped car playing such a crucial role in deciding Saturday’s outcome.

“Good teaching moment,” Allgaier said after speaking with Lothian on pit road. “He kind of made a move to inside then back outside and I just didn’t know which lane he was going to go in. And unfortunately, it allowed the 17 (Day) to get to my outside.

“But hats off to Corey and that whole 17 team. He was running me down there at the end. Proud of our team. It wasn’t the day we wanted early on, but the team worked really hard all day long.

“Just disappointed to walk out of here with a second after leading that many laps at the end, but hats off to Corey and everyone on that team.”

The race featured nine caution periods and a lot of short-run strategy.

Creed’s Haas teammate Sam Mayer finished third. Joe Gibbs Racing’s William Sawalich was fourth and Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill claimed fifth place – the perennial championship contender’s best finish since a runner-up showing on the Austin road course back in March.

JGR’s Brendan Jones won the first stage and NASCAR Cup Series regular, Ross Chastain won the second stage after pacing the field four different times for a combined 68 laps. His shot at a trophy ended just past race’s midpoint when he and JGR’s Taylor Gray collided and spun out.

JR Motorsports Carson Kvapil finished sixth and extended the team’s top-10 streak to an amazing 71 races. Ryan Sieg, Sammy Smith and Anthony Alfredo rounded out the top-10.

The O’Reilly Auto Parts Series moves to the 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway for next Saturday’s Charbroil 300 (5 p.m. ET on the CW, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). NASCAR Cup Series fulltime William Byron is the defending race winner.



NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series Race Number 14
Race Results for the BetRivers 200 - Saturday, May 16, 2026
Dover Motor Speedway - Dover, DE - 1. - Mile Concrete
Total Race Length - 200 Laps - 200. Miles

Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 5/16/2026 @ 06:35 PM Eastern

                                                    Stage 1    Stage 2
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts  Pos           Pos Status Tms Laps

1 3 17 Corey Day HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 200 8 7 62 Running 1 4
2 13 7 Justin Allgaier BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet 200 10 8 39 Running 1 71
3 6 41 Sam Mayer Audibel Chevrolet 200 3 5 48 Running 1 1
4 8 18 William Sawalich Starkey Toyota 200 7 9 40 Running 1 15
5 17 21 Austin Hill 1-800-PACK-RAT Chevrolet 200 32 Running
6 2 20 Brandon Jones Menards/DAP Toyota 200 1 41 Running 1 31
7 7 1 Carson Kvapil Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet 200 6 6 40 Running
8 11 39 Ryan Sieg SciAps Chevrolet 200 10 30 Running
9 18 8 Sammy Smith Arby's BBQ Chevrolet 200 28 Running
10 27 96 Anthony Alfredo Dude Wipes Chevrolet 200 27 Running
11 20 44 Brennan Poole Clarks Directional Boring Chevrolet 200 26 Running
12 26 87 Austin Green 3Dimensional.com Chevrolet 200 25 Running 1 4
13 1 9 Ross Chastain(i) Roto-Rooter Chevrolet 200 2 1 0 Running 4 68
14 4 88 Rajah Caruth HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 200 5 2 38 Running 1 1
15 21 51 Jeremy Clements BG Crane Services Inc Chevrolet 200 22 Running
16 9 24 Harrison Burton DEX/SHARP Toyota 200 21 Running
17 24 28 Kyle Sieg Sustainachem Chevrolet 200 20 Running
18 12 00 Sheldon Creed Boulder Crest Foundation Chevrolet 200 19 Running
19 31 32 Andrew Patterson Bommarito.com Chevrolet 200 18 Running
20 22 26 Dean Thompson Thompson Pipe Group Toyota 200 17 Running
21 28 48 Patrick Staropoli # Syfovre Chevrolet 200 16 Running
22 16 19 Brent Crews # Flow Toyota 200 15 Running
23 10 2 Jesse Love Whelen Chevrolet 200 9 4 23 Running 1 4
24 25 91 Myatt Snider Del. State Police Honoring Ty Snook Chevrolet 200 13 Running
25 32 02 Ryan Ellis Sweetwater Construction Chevrolet 199 12 Running
26 33 55 Blake Lothian The Texas Lawbook Toyota 199 11 Running
27 34 07 Josh Bilicki Rita's Water Ice Chevrolet 199 10 Running
28 35 35 Dawson Cram Chevrolet 198 9 Running
29 19 92 BJ McLeod(i) Pigeon Forge Racing Coaster Chevrolet 195 0 Running
30 37 42 CJ McLaughlin Howell Engineering Chevrolet 193 7 Running
31 30 0 Garrett Smithley Knight Fire Protection Chevrolet 189 6 Running
32 5 54 Taylor Gray Operation 300 Toyota 183 4 3 20 Suspension 1 1
33 38 53 David Starr Alarm Tech Chevrolet 62 4 Vibration
34 29 31 Blaine Perkins Nuthin Fancy Co Chevrolet 59 3 Accident
35 36 38 Logan Bearden Ford 30 2 Brakes
36 23 45 Lavar Scott # Urban Affairs Coalition Chevrolet 23 1 Engine
37 15 27 Jeb Burton BG Products Chevrolet 10 1 Accident
38 14 99 Parker Retzlaff FUNKAWAY Chevrolet 10 1 Accident

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 14 Mins, 6 Secs. Average Speed: 99.917 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.461 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 20, 9, 41, 54, 88, 1, 18, 17, 2, 7
Stage 2 Top 10: 9, 88, 54, 2, 41, 1, 17, 7, 18, 39

Race Comments: Corey Day has won the BetRivers 200 at Dover Motor Speedway, his second victory in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series. Prior to the start of the race, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty: Nos. 99 (Unapproved Adjustment) and No. 53 (Engine).

Failed to Qualify: None.

Caution Flags: 9 for 54 laps; Laps: 12-18 (#99, 27, 45 Incident Backstretch [None]); 47-53 (Stage 1 Conclusion [07]); 62-67 (#31 Incident Turn 3 [0]); 92-99 (Stage 2 Conclusion [35]); 101-105 (#2, 88 Incident Turn 4 [35]); 112-117 (#88, 24 Incident Turn 4 [96]); 121-125 (#9, 54 Incident Frontstretch [88]); 129-132 (#0 Incident Turn 2 [55]); 161-166 (#0 Incident Turn 4 [07]).

Lead Changes: 12 among 10 drivers; R. Chastain(i) 1-17; B. Jones 18-48; S. Mayer 49; R. Chastain(i) 50-52; T. Gray 53; R. Chastain(i) 54-94; R. Caruth 95; J. Love 96-99; R. Chastain(i) 100-106; W. Sawalich 107-121; A. Green 122-125; J. Allgaier 126-196; C. Day 197-200.

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Next Race: May 23, 2026 - Charlotte Motor Speedway

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CURRENT NASCAR O'REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES STANDINGS

UNOFFICIAL UNOFFICIAL

1. Justin Allgaier 7 14 0 679 0 0 3 5
2. Sheldon Creed 00 14 0 504 -175 175 1 0
3. Jesse Love 2 14 0 502 -177 2 0 2
4. Corey Day 17 14 1 484 -195 18 2 2
5. Brandon Jones 20 14 -1 474 -205 10 0 3
6. Sammy Smith 8 14 0 427 -252 47 0 1
7. Austin Hill 21 14 0 424 -255 3 1 4
8. Carson Kvapil 1 14 0 420 -259 4 0 1
9. Sam Mayer 41 14 3 369 -310 51 0 1
10. Taylor Gray 54 14 0 365 -314 4 1 0
11. Parker Retzlaff 99 14 -2 363 -316 2 0 0
12. William Sawalich 18 14 1 344 -335 19 1 0

13. Brent Crews # 19 10 -2 339 -340 5 0 1
14. Rajah Caruth 88 14 0 338 -341 1 0 1
15. Ryan Sieg 39 14 0 322 -357 16 0 0
16. Brennan Poole 44 14 0 283 -396 39 0 0
17. Anthony Alfredo 96 14 2 242 -437 41 0 0
18. Dean Thompson 26 14 0 236 -443 6 0 0
19. Jeremy Clements 51 14 1 234 -445 2 0 0
20. Jeb Burton 27 14 -3 224 -455 10 0 0