Corey Day wins NASCAR O’Reilly Series race in wild finish at LVMS — PHOTOS

Corey Day and Carson Kvapil put on a show Saturday night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway that would rival any performance on the Las Vegas Strip.

Day and Kvapil battled for the last 12 laps in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Chase race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and it was Day who left with the trophy. And a scratched-up race car.

Day passed Kvapil with two laps to go, riding the wall on the top lane of the racetrack and hitting it several times to win the Focused Health 302 Saturday evening at LVMS.

“I was just so tight there at the end, I was so scared I was going to go down there and plow on the bottom and let him by me and have no run and be able to do nothing,” Day said in his postrace TV interview with CW Sports.

“A great car. … We struggled over the summer. We won Talladega and Dover and went dry, so it feels really good. A dominant day for us. That was badass.”

There were four lead changes in the final 12 laps between Day and Kvapil. Day was in control of the race, but Kvapil, riding the bottom lane of the track, cut into Day’s lead.

Kvapil took the lead with three laps to go, and Day rode the top of the racetrack to make up ground. Day, after hitting the wall, passed Kvapil before crossing the start-finish line to start the final lap.

“I thought (Day) was pretty stout. … I was able to find some speed in the bottom of (Turns) 1 and 2 and never really tried the fence,” Kvapil said. “I knew once I got in front of him the only thing I could do to be best for me was to run the bottom, and he did a really good job running the top and hit a perfect corner.

Day picked up 75 points towards the championship standings and sits fifth at 41 points behind Sheldon Creed. Creed holds a 19-point lead over Kvapil.

“I knew we’d be able to be a title contender from the start of the year,” said Day, whose No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet had a dark yellow stripe on the right side of the car from hitting the fence. “I just had a dry summer there, so we’re getting things rolling back in the right direction.”

Championship favorite Justin Allgaier crashed on Lap 55 and dropped to third in the standings. Allgaier is 31 points behind Creed.

Creed announces 2027 ride

Creed managed to extend his points lead despite finishing 13th Saturday evening, but earlier in the day Creed made an announcement about his future.

Before the start of Saturday’s race, Creed announced he will be leaving Haas Factory Team after the end of the season and join Sam Hunt Racing on a multi-year deal beginning in 2027.

“Looking down the road, I haven’t gotten a Cup (Series) opportunity and that’s still my end goal, but if I don’t ever get that call, I feel like Sam’s is somewhere I can race at for the next 15 years and make a living,” Creed said at a Saturday morning news conference at LVMS.

Creed, 29 from Alpine, California, earned his first O’Reilly Auto Parts Series win at Atlanta in February and then won at Darlington and Bristol in two of the first three races of the Chase.

“I wouldn’t say it was my first choice to move on (from Haas Factory Team),” Creed said. “Unfortunately, business has to make sense and that overrules performance and results on track.”