Corey Day Slams Wall, Out-Duels Kvapil In Wild Las Vegas Finish

In one of the wildest closing laps battles you'll ever see, Corey Day emerged victorious over Carson Kvapil in Saturday night's NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series Focused Health 302 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. But at no point in the final 10 or so laps did the battle for the win seem like it was over.

In the end, Day, who was utilizing the outside lane, pounded the outside wall numerous times in the final two laps, but was able to keep his momentum rolling enough to stay engaged with Kvapil in the battle for the win. Coming off of Turn 4 on the final lap, Day knocked the outside wall down, but stayed in the gas, and was able to out-drag race Kvapil to the line.

WOW!!!!!!!!!!@corey_day_ dramatically overtakes @Carson_Kvapil in an AMAZING finish at Las Vegas for his third victory of the season! pic.twitter.com/ZikvixFLGh
— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) October 4, 2026

As Day crossed the finish line first, Kvapil, who had a much-more conventional last couple of laps, crossed the line 0.287 seconds later.

In the closing laps, Kvapil, who had been reeling in Day for several laps, was finally able to get past him for the lead with 13 laps to go. This was made possible as Day's car had flipped ultra-tight at the end of the race.

Due to the tight handling condition, Day chose to go to the top of the track.

"Ah, man. I was just so tight there at the end. I was so scared I was going to go down there, plow on the bottom, and let him by me, and then just have no run and be able to do nothing," Day explained.

Despite it looking like his dominant day would end without a win as Kvapil passed him with 13 laps to go, Day kept his head in the game, and never gave up. In the end, he captured the race win, and with the win, he's back in contention for the series championship.

"I knew we'd be able to be a championship title contender from the start of the year, but, like I said, just had a dry summer, there. So, we're getting things rolling back in the right direction, and my guys brought me a phenomenal race car like I said. That's a big part of it," Day said.

Following Saturday night's race at Las Vegas, the fourth of nine races in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series Chase, Day ranks fifth in the championship standings, and he has clawed to within 41 points of the lead, which is held by Sheldon Creed.

While Kvapil came home the first loser on Day's big night, the driver took solace in the fact that he was able to challenge Day in the closing laps.

"There at the end, I thought [Day] was pretty stout," Kvapil stated. "He seemed to be matching us, or just barely pulling us. Some of that lapped traffic held him up there, and I was able to find some speed in the bottom of [Turns] 1 and 2. Just never really tried the fence, right? So, I knew once I got in front of him, the only thing I could do that would be best for me was probably just to run the bottom. And he just did a really good job running the top, and he had perfect corners."

It may not have been a win, but Kvapil moved from third to second in the championship standings, and on a night that Creed, the point leader, and Justin Allgaier faltered, Kvapil had a great points night. Kvapil sits just 19 points behind Creed with five races remaining in the Chase.

Jesse Love came home with a solid third-place finish, and now the defending series champion has climbed to third in the Chase Grid, and he is just 22 points back.

Rookie of the Year contender, Brent Crews finished fourth, ahead of Taylor Gray and Sam Mayer, a pair of championship contenders.

For Mayer, the rally to finish sixth was impressive. The driver of the No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet took the Stage 2 win, but had an uncontrolled tire penalty on pit road late in the race which mired him deep in the field. He was able to claw back into the picture and got a solid top-10.

Jeremy Clements, William Sawalich, Austin Hill, and Anthony Alfredo rounded out the top-10 finishers in Saturday night's race at Las Vegas.

While it wasn't an ideal night for Creed, the series point leader was able to minimize the damage as he narrowly held on to finish the night on the lead lap, and he came home with a 13th-place result. It was definitely his worst run of the Chase, so far, but it was still a decent enough result to keep the driver atop the championship standings.

Allgaier, who entered the night second in the championship standings, saw his race come to an early end due to an accident, not of his doing, with Brandon Jones, a fellow Chase contender.

Jones' No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing pit crew failed to get one of his tires all the way tight on a pit stop, which led Jones to try to hang on during a restart at Lap 53. The driver couldn't hang onto his car, spun, and went head-on into the outside wall. Unfortunately, Allgaier was running in the high lane, and had nowhere to go, and pounded into Jones' car.

A crash with BIG implications on the Championship!@BrandonJonesRac gets loose and collides with @J_Allgaier as he hits the wall. pic.twitter.com/V2332ycoSP
— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) October 4, 2026

Allgaier would finish 34th, while Jones would be scored with a 35th-place finish.

Updated Chase Standings

1. Sheldon Creed, 2,259 points
2. Carson Kvapil, -19
3. Jesse Love, -22
4. Justin Allgaier, -31
5. Corey Day, -41
6. Sam Mayer, -52
7. Taylor Gray, -91
8. Sammy Smith, -94
9. Austin Hill, -100
10. Parker Retzlaff, -117
11. Brandon Jones, -129
12. Rajah Caruth, -146

What's Next?

Next up for the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series is the Blue Cross NC 250 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday, October 10. That race will be televised on The CW, and streamed on the ESPN App with coverage set to kick off at 4 PM ET. The Performance Racing Network (PRN) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will provide the radio broadcast of that race.

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