Late Surge and Lap Traffic Propel Corey Day to Second Win of 2026 at Dover

RPW EXCLUSIVE COLUMN BY: Steven Brien / RPW – DOVER, DE  –  Corey Day used a daring move on the outside lane through lap traffic with five laps remaining to pass Justin Allgaier and win the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race Saturday at Dover Motor Speedway. 

“It just worked out good,” Day said post-race. “I was hoping that’s how it would’ve played out.”

Day drove around Allgaier on the high side entering Turn 1 and held on over the closing laps to secure his second victory of the season, and the second of his O’Reilly Series career. He held off Allgaier by just 0.461 seconds. His first career win came at Talladega in April. 

With two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Larson watching from the pit box, Day wheeled his No. 17 Chevrolet to Victory Lane after tracking down Allgaier in the closing laps.

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

Allgaier appeared poised for victory after crew chief Andrew Overstreet made a pivotal strategy call with 81 laps remaining, bringing the No. 7 Chevrolet to pit road for fuel before a caution flag shuffled the field. When the yellow came out shortly afterward, Allgaier stayed on track while the leaders pitted, allowing him to inherit the lead. 

Lap traffic ultimately played a decisive role in the outcome. Blake Lothian, running one lap down, hesitated on lane choice ahead of the leaders and forced Allgaier to the bottom entering the corner, opening the outside lane for Day to complete the winning pass.

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

Allgaier finished second after leading 71 laps, followed by Sam Mayer in third, William Sawalich in fourth and Austin Hill in fifth. Brandon Jones finished sixth, with Carson Kvapil seventh, Ryan Sieg eighth, Sammy Smith ninth and Anthony Alfredo rounding out the top 10.

Jones dominated the opening stage after passing pole-sitter Ross Chastain on Lap 19 and pulling away for his third stage victory of the season. Chastain finished second in the stage, followed by Mayer, Taylor Gray, Rajah Caruth and Kvapil. Sawalich was seventh, followed by Day, Jesse Love, and Allgaier to round out the top ten.

Jones lost seven spots on pit road following the stage end, dropping him outside of the top ten, finishing 11th in stage two.

Chastain rebounded to win the second stage after holding off Caruth, while Chastain led a total of 68 laps on the day. Gray finished third, Love fourth and Mayer fifth. Kvapil was sixth, Day seventh, Allgaier eighth, Sawalich ninth, and Sieg completed the top ten.

The race featured multiple incidents and nine caution flags. The opening caution came on Lap 12 when Sieg lost control in Turn 2 and made contact with Brent Crews. Crews slid into the outside wall, while Parker Retzlaff collided with a slowing Jeb Burton after contact from Lavar Scott. The crash eliminated Burton and Retzlaff from the race.

On a restart following a strong pit stop, Love lined up alongside Caruth on the front row. Entering Turn 3, Caruth got loose underneath Love and sent Love into the outside wall, damaging the right rear of Love’s Chevrolet. Caruth avoided major damage and continued. 

Another major incident unfolded with 81 laps remaining when Gray got loose underneath Chastain while battling for second place, sending Chastain into the outside wall. Gray was then clipped by Mayer and slammed head-on into the inside wall, ending his race in 32nd.

Blaine Perkins crashed heavily into the Turn 3 wall on Lap 61 after an apparent mechanical failure. Alfredo sustained minor damage while slowing to avoid the spinning car. Perkins finished 34th.

Later in the race, Smith attempted a three-wide move underneath Caruth and Harrison Burton entering Turn 3 on Lap 112. Smith made contact with Caruth, sending both Caruth and Burton spinning into the outside wall. 

Garrett Smithley brought out two late cautions after a spin with 73 laps remaining and a flat tire with 41 laps to go.

Austin Green was the only driver to save a fresh set of tires for the final run and used the advantage to charge from 23rd to a 12th-place finish.

NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Race – BetRivers 200

Dover Motor Speedway

Dover, DE

Saturday May 16, 2026

1. (3) Corey Day, Chevrolet, 200.
2. (13) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 200.
3. (6) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, 200.
4. (8) William Sawalich, Toyota, 200.
5. (17) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 200.
6. (2) Brandon Jones, Toyota, 200.
7. (7) Carson Kvapil, Chevrolet, 200.
8. (11) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 200.
9. (18) Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 200.
10.  (27) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 200.
11.  (20) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 200.
12.  (26) Austin Green, Chevrolet, 200.
13.  (1) Ross Chastain (i), Chevrolet, 200.
14.  (4) Rajah Caruth, Chevrolet, 200.
15.  (21) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 200.
16.  (9) Harrison Burton, Toyota, 200.
17.  (24) Kyle Sieg, Chevrolet, 200.
18.  (12) Sheldon Creed, Chevrolet, 200.
19.  (31) Andrew Patterson, Chevrolet, 200.
20.  (22) Dean Thompson, Toyota, 200.
21.  (28) Patrick Staropoli, Chevrolet, 200.
22.  (16) Brent Crews, Toyota, 200.
23.  (10) Jesse Love, Chevrolet, 200.
24.  (25) Myatt Snider, Chevrolet, 200.
25.  (32) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 199.
26.  (33) Blake Lothian, Toyota, 199.
27.  (34) Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 199.
28.  (35) Dawson Cram, Chevrolet, 198.
29.  (19) B.J. McLeod (i), Chevrolet, 195.
30.  (37) C.J. McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 193.
31.  (30) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 189.
32.  (5) Taylor Gray, Toyota, Suspension, 183.
33.  (38) David Starr, Chevrolet, Vibration, 62.
34.  (29) Blaine Perkins, Chevrolet, Accident, 59.
35.  (36) Logan Bearden, Ford, Brakes, 30.
36.  (23) Lavar Scott, Chevrolet, Engine, 23.
37.  (15) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, Accident, 10.
38.  (14) Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, Accident, 10.