When the 2026 NASCAR O‘Reilly Auto Parts Season gets underway at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 14, 2026 (The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), dirt-racing stud and top prospect Corey Day will begin his full-time NASCAR career, driving the No. 17 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.
Day, a 19-year-old who Hendrick highly sought after, will transition to full-time after making 11 Xfinity Series starts in 2025, scoring a fourth-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway near season‘s end. It will be Hendrick‘s first full-season entry in the O‘Reilly Auto Parts Series since 2006, when Kyle Busch and Justin Labonte split the No. 5 car for all 35 events.
Advertisement
“That was what I was working towards this year,” Day told NASCAR.com of getting the nod to run the full 2026 slate. “It wasn‘t announced or anything, but my contract was written as next year was an option if this year went well. I guess I did a good enough job to get that option picked up.
“To say I‘m going to run a NASCAR series full-time next year is something I‘ve dreamed about doing since I was a little kid. It‘s really cool.”
RELATED: 2026 O’Reilly Auto Parts schedule | Latest Silly Season news
The decision to go full-time was easy for Hendrick Motorsports, as it groomed Day to NASCAR by signing a developmental deal last January. With sponsorship from HendrickCars.com, the California native ran nine Craftsman Truck Series races with Spire Motorsports in 2025, earning a runner-up finish at Lucas Oil Raceway in late July. His last four starts were all finishes of 11th or better, including a trio of top 10s.
Advertisement
On the Xfinity front, Day earned a pair of top 10s in 11 starts, netting an average finish of 15.9. That would slot in better than playoff drivers Sheldon Creed and Nick Sanchez.
“I‘m ready, I‘m excited,” Day added. “This year, I ran a lot of different race cars, which is really challenging to be able to progress a lot in all of them. I learned a lot in each and every one of them. It‘s hard to be really good at one of them when you only get to do it a certain amount of times per year.”
Admittedly, Day lacks seat time compared to the field and knows that will be among the biggest hurdles to overcome in 2026. Getting more accustomed to NASCAR competition has prepared him for what is ahead. He will have a familiar voice in crew chief Adam Wall, who will lead the No. 17 team in 2026.
“You can study all you want and sim all you want, but until you do the real thing, it‘s hard to get all the experience,” Day said. “I‘m excited to be doing it week after week next year every week. Getting into a rhythm and routine with the team.
Advertisement
“At the beginning of this year, I think about how foreign it all was to me and how many first times I‘ve had this year. I‘m really excited for next year, my first times are only going to be going to a new track. I‘m excited about that. I know the 17 car is going to be great every time I‘m in it, so that makes me feel really good too.”
Jeff Andrews, Hendrick president and general manager, believes Day has the raw speed to be competitive. Andrews grew up around Ronnie Day (Corey‘s father), who was a highly-touted competitor in sprint cars.
“I‘m a big believer in Corey and his talent,” Andrews, a fellow California native, told NASCAR.com in a September interview. “Certainly, a big fan because he‘s a hometown guy for me, so I can get behind that.
“Corey has speed, there is no doubt about it. He is capable to go fast and not afraid to go fast. I think the progress that we wanted to see and are seeing now is what to do with that and to manage that. This isn‘t a 30- or 40-lap sprint car race like he‘s used to and having to go quickly and don‘t have a lot of time.”
Advertisement
Jeff Gordon, vice chairman of Hendrick, also transitioned from dirt to pavement over three decades prior and felt similarly.
“Every race that Corey has been in, he‘s the first guy to start searching for different lines and different ways to pass,” Gordon stated. “He‘s never afraid to try things. I think that‘s what gravitates us towards a dirt driver. That‘s a skill set that you can‘t teach people. They have to get that experience, and usually it‘s on dirt that they learn that. Once you learn that, you‘re going to adapt to pavement and other types of cars.”
Day will begin the 2026 season running his first superspeedway race at Daytona. There will be learning curves galore next year, but getting experience in the car was crucial in the jump to pavement.
“More seat time, in general, racing around these guys,” Day added. “I only have one top five, so I only have raced around the best guys one time. All my other races, I‘ve been back in the pack racing with those guys. It‘s going to be a new level to go race with the top five guys
Advertisement
“Tenth to 20th is way harder to race and make up spots than the top 10 because everyone in the back is all over the place and they are racing so much harder for those positions to hopefully get to the top 10. Whereas the guys in the top 10 are already there and more relaxed. That was good to get to learn some things.”
Knowing he will be in an elite ride, Day‘s expectations for 2026 are simple: be competitive.
“I would love to win a race,” he said. “I think top 10s, consistency, will be a big thing for me. Going to these new tracks, there is going to be a learning curve every time. I think try to have top 10s every race will be a good goal. I want to win.”
