Corey Day won the Focused Health 302 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada, passing Carson Kvapil with two laps to go and beating him to the line by 0.287 seconds. The 20-year-old rookie started from pole, won Stage 1 and led a career-high 136 of 201 laps in the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for his third career NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series win (NASCAR official results; NASCAR.com).
How it was won
Day qualified on pole at 180.856 mph and ran the opening stage from the front, taking Stage 1 on Lap 45. Sam Mayer won Stage 2 and led 40 laps, but an uncontrolled-tire penalty during the second stage break sent him to the rear (SpeedwayMedia). Day retook the lead two laps into the final stage, kept it through the last green-flag pit cycle and was about two seconds clear with 30 laps left (SpeedwayMedia).
Lapped traffic brought Kvapil back into play. NASCAR Statistics shows Kvapil leading Laps 190–191, Day back in front for Laps 192–198, Kvapil again on Lap 199, and Day leading the last two laps (NASCAR official results). Kvapil stayed on the bottom groove. Day ran the very top lane, inches from the wall, brushed it twice on the last lap and still cleared the No. 1 off Turn 4 (Hendrick Motorsports).
Day said afterward his car was so tight at the end that he was afraid of sliding to the bottom and letting Kvapil by. Kvapil said his car was strong low and that he never tried the top lane (NASCAR.com).
The day’s biggest Chase casualty came shortly after the Stage 2 restart, when Brandon Jones’s No. 20 Toyota got loose in Turn 2 and collected Justin Allgaier. Allgaier finished 34th. Jones was later disqualified in post-race inspection for four or more lug nuts not safe and secure, and was credited with last place, 36th (NASCAR.com).
Results snapshot
| Pos | Driver | Car | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Corey Day | No. 17 Chevrolet | Pole; won Stage 1; 136 laps led; MOV 0.287s |
| 2 | Carson Kvapil | No. 1 Chevrolet | 3 laps led |
| 3 | Jesse Love | No. 2 Chevrolet | |
| 4 | Brent Crews | No. 19 Toyota | |
| 5 | Taylor Gray | No. 54 Toyota | |
| 6 | Sam Mayer | No. 41 Chevrolet | Won Stage 2; 40 laps led |
| 7 | Jeremy Clements | No. 51 Chevrolet | |
| 8 | William Sawalich | No. 18 Toyota | Started 36th; 5 laps led |
| 9 | Austin Hill | No. 21 Chevrolet | |
| 10 | Anthony Alfredo | No. 96 Chevrolet | 2 laps led |
Race facts (NASCAR Statistics): 201 laps, 301.5 miles; race time 2:13:38; winner’s average 135.37 mph; 3 cautions for 21 laps; 15 lead changes among 9 drivers. Day also earned the fastest-lap bonus (30.412 seconds on Lap 100). Post-race inspection is complete and Day’s win is confirmed (NASCAR.com).
Chase standings: Sheldon Creed, 13th on the night, still leads. Kvapil is 19 points back, Jesse Love 21, Allgaier 30 and Day 41, with five races left (NASCAR.com; SpeedwayMedia).
History & significance
Day’s first two series wins came at Talladega in April and Dover in May, and he had gone without a win since. He arrived in Las Vegas sixth in the Chase, 92 points behind, and left fifth and 41 back (Hendrick Motorsports; SpeedwayMedia). It was his second career O’Reilly Series pole, Chevrolet’s 25th series win of 2026 and Hendrick Motorsports’ third (SpeedwayMedia). Four of the top 10 finishers were not Chase-eligible: Brent Crews, Jeremy Clements, William Sawalich and Anthony Alfredo.
What’s next
The O’Reilly Auto Parts Series moves to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Blue Cross NC 300 on Saturday, October 10, 2026, at 4 p.m. ET (3 p.m. CT) on The CW. It is the first fall series race on the 1.5-mile Charlotte oval since 2017 (NASCAR.com). Series tickets: NASCAR tickets.