Corey Day pulled off a massive upset for JRM's Justin Allgaier as the Hendrick Motorsports driver took the lead of the race with four laps to go and claimed the BetRivers 200 at Dover. Not leading a single race lap until then, Day denied championship leader Justin Allgaier and beat him by 0.461 seconds to go and showed some true pace that was shocking as well for the crew chief, Adam Wall.

“I know he was waiting and waiting to go to the top, but it was better than what any of us could’ve expected," Wall told the media after the race. "I didn’t think we had a winning car today.”

With just four laps to go, Day started his engines in a way that there was no looking back. He first passed William Sawalich off Turn 4 for 3^rd place. Next was Sam Mayer’s turn. By lap 179 off Turn 4, Mayer was passed too. Finally, it was Day vs Allgaier.

One could physically see a different pace on which Day was storming past everyone, reminiscent of an SVG on a road course or the way Connor Zilisch approached Jesse Love at The Glen.

Both Allgaier and Day came head-to-head but got divided by a lap car, and on lap 197 Day finally went high and took the lead for his second O’Reilly series win.

Interestingly, Day also used the traffic to keep ahead and hold on to the line in the end. With 200 laps on board, it was Day who emerged victorious, and with this, he put himself with the likes of Kyle Busch in terms of first or second at the Monster Mile.

Only Joey Logano has better statistics than him. While Day helped the Hendrick Motorsports crew to have another perfect day after Talladega, Justin Allgaier left questioning his pit crew.

Justin Allgaier hails Corey Day, blames tire disadvantage

Following the conclusion of the Dover O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race on Saturday, Justin Allgaier shared his thoughts and put forward the issues he faced in the race. Highlighting how he was at a disadvantage against Day with a few laps old tires, the JR Motorsports driver said:

"I just didn't know which lane he was going to go in. And unfortunately, you know, let the 17 get to my outside. So hats off to Corey. I mean, that whole 17 team. I mean, he was running me down there at the end.

"We had a few laps older tyres, but just proud of our team, proud of everybody on this Brandt Chevy. You know, I thought it wasn't the day that we wanted early on."

Sam Mayer, William Sawalich, and Austin Hill finished the top five, while Brandon Jones, Carson Kvapil, Ryan Sieg, Sammy Smith, and Anthony Alfredo wrapped up the top 10.

Read more at the RFK Racing Digest!

Written by

Sabyasachi Biswas

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason