No. 17 Corey Day takes O'Reilly Autoparts Win in Vegas
The O'Reilly Autoparts Series hit the track again to continue the O'Reilly Chase in the Las Vegas 302 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Corey Day qualified first, followed by Sheldon Creed on the front row and Brandon Jones and Brent Crews on the second.
Sheldon Creed enters the weekend leading in Chase standings by 11 points and holding the most recent win at Bristol on Sept. 18.
As it unfolded
Day and Creed kicked off the race side by side throughout Lap 1. By Lap 9, after a brief back and forth battle between Creed and Day, the No. 17 car ultimately took the lead.
Rajah Caruth and Sam Mayer overtook Creed over the next few laps to take the second and third spots behind Day.
Despite a strong start, Creed ultimately fell out of the top 10 by Lap 37.
Stage 1 ended with Corey Day sitting at the lead by over four seconds. Eight of the top ten drivers for the first phase are competitors in the Chase.
Stage 1 Results
No. 17 Corey Day
No. 41 Sam Mayer
No. 88 Rajah Caruth
No. 20 Brandon Jones
No. 2 Jesse Love
No. 19 Brent Crews
No. 39 Ryan Sieg
No. 54 Taylor Gray
No. 21 Austin Hill
No. 7 Justin Allgaier
A relatively clean race start made way for a dramatic opening in Stage 2.
On a Lap 54 restart, a caution was called after Brandon Jones went loose, making contact with Justin Allgaier, who was running second in Chase standings prior to the weekend. Both cars experienced extensive damage in the crash.
Sam Mayer held the lead during Lap 68 with two cautions for 14 laps. Day sat at second, just 0.571 seconds behind the leader.
As the final laps of Stage 2 wound down, Day continued gaining on Mayer, but was unable to overtake for the lead, giving the No. 41 car first place for Stage 2.
Stage 2 Results
No. 41 Sam Mayer
No. 17 Corey Day
No. 88 Rajah Caruth
No. 1 Carson Kvapil
No. 51 Jeremy Clements
No. 18 William Sawalich
No. 19 Brent Crews
No. 2 Jesse Love
No. 54 Taylor Gray
No. 39 Ryan Sieg
Following Stage 2, several drivers went in for pit stops under a caution flag on Lap 95. William Sawalich won the race out of pit road, but not without minor contact with Caruth and Carson Kvapil. Both Sam Mayer and Rajah Caruth were penalized for an uncontrolled tire, while Kyle Sieg was penalized for improper fueling and Lee Pulliam for improper driver assist.
Lap 97 held a new top three led by Sawalich who started in 36th, Kvapil in second and Caruth in third.
The race restarted on Lap 100 and Day reclaimed his lead from the No. 18 car. On Lap 116, Allgaier returned to the race after repairing his car for over 60 laps following his Stage 2 crash.
Day once again maintained his lead through another round of pit stops. By Lap 160, Day led by just over one second and was followed by Kvapil, Jesse Love and Taylor Gray.
Day held the lead until just 12 laps remained in the race, when Kvapil overtook for the lead after steadily gaining on the No. 17. Kvapil didn't remain there for long as Day made another pass for the lead. The two continued battling back and forth as the race went down to the final five laps.
Day ultimately drove to the No. 1 spot ahead, winning by just 0.287 seconds, leading 136 laps and earning 75 points towards his Chase standings.
Final Results
No. 17 Corey Day
No. 1 Carson Kvapil
No. 2 Jesse Love
No. 19 Brent Crews
No. 54 Taylor Gray
No. 41 Sam Mayer
No. 51 Jeremy Clements
No. 18 William Sawalich
No. 21 Austin Hill
No. 96 Anthony Alfredo
No. 88 Rajah Caruth
No. 39 Ryan Sieg
No. 00 Sheldon Creed
No. 24 Harrison Burton
No. 8 Sammy Smith
No. 26 Dean Thompson
No. 44 Brennan Poole
No. 87 Lee Pulliam
No. 99 Parker Retzlaff
No. 28 Kyle Sieg
No. 27 Jeb Burton
No. 32 Andrew Patterson
No. 42 Matt Dibenedetto
No. 48 Patrick Staropoli
No. 0 Garrett Smithley
No. 45 Lavar Scott
No. 55 Joey Gase
No. 92 Josh Williams
No. 02 Ryan Ellis
No. 07 Josh Bilicki
No. 31 Blaine Perkins
No. 53 Blake Lothian
No. 91 Mason Maggio
No. 7 Justin Allgaier
No. 20 Brandon Jones
No. 47 Dawson Cram
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