Corey Day constructed a late rally to finish 18th in his NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) debut on Thursday night at Bristol Motor Speedway (BMS). The driver of the No. 81 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado RST finished the evening with a lead lap finish and an efficient recovery after a pit road violation. Day will return for a second taste of NCTS competition in a week’s time at Kansas Speedway.
The Clovis, Calif. teenager quickly showed his raw pace in the opening laps of practice by posting the fourth-fastest lap in Group 1. He took the green flag from the outside of row 11 and methodically found a rhythm in the opening stage. Day fought a loose handling condition in the early portion of the race that progressed even more free as the run continued. He was scored 26th at the end of Stage 1 on lap 55.
Day made his first pit stop of the night under the stage caution for four tires, fuel, and a round of adjustments to tighten his balance, and restarted 21st after quick service by the HendrickCars.com crew. The adjustments proved beneficial as he advanced to 18th over the ensuing 43-lap run in the second segment, and held the that position until the end of Stage 2 on lap 110.
Crew chief Chad Norris elected to bring Day back to pit road during the second stage caution for a second set of Goodyear tires, fuel, and adjustments. However, an uncontrolled tire violation forced Day to restart at the tail of the field for the restart on lap 121. The improved drivability in his Chevrolet allowed Day to quickly advance to 21st when a caution flew on lap 156. He took advantage of the lap 172 restart to run as high as 16th and took the checkered flag in 18th position.
Corey Day Quote:
“Overall I’m happy with how tonight went. We completed all the laps and that was my goal. I was too loose the first run, we got things better the second run and then really dialed in the last run. We got that pit road penalty and honestly, I’m kind of glad we did because it gave me a chance to learn to work through traffic. I can’t thank the group at McAnally-Hilgemann Racing enough and HendrickCars.com for the support.”
McAnally Hilgemann Racing PR
