Hendrick Motorsports might be struggling to find speed in 2026, but they are already preparing for the future. The organization announced that Corey Day has signed a long-term contract with them. The 20-year-old will return to the No. 17 HMS Chevy to race for the championship in the O’Reilly Series next year, along with making his Cup Series debut on a part-time schedule.
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HMS initially didn’t disclose plans for Day regarding his Cup Series races. And this led to a guessing game among the fans. The reason for the curiosity was legitimate because Hendrick Motorsports can only field four full-time entries as part of their charter agreement with NASCAR. But the team has now publicly announced how they will navigate these challenges with the help of a fellow Chevy team.
Jeff Andrews, President and General Manager at Hendrick Motorsports, confirmed that Corey Day will run somewhere around 4-5 races next year. And because of the charter cap, he will be driving a Spire Motorsports Chevrolet in a program named the “Corey Day Development Program.”
Jeff Gluck shared this update on X: “Hendrick’s Jeff Andrews says Kyle Larson and Jeff Gordon will “obviously have tremendous input” in picking the tracks for Corey Day’s partial Cup schedule next year. Andrews says those races are likely to come in “the middle-to-latter half of the year.”
William Byron in the No. 24, Kyle Larson in the No. 5, Chase Elliott in the No. 9, and Alex Bowman in the No. 48 make up the four full-time entries for Hendrick Motorsports. The fourth charter is an exception, as only HMS and JGR have four entries; all the other organizations are limited to just three full-time cars. Both JGR and HMS were grandfathered in under the new charter agreement because they already operated four cars before the agreement was signed.
This move by Hendrick regarding Corey Day makes sense. Spire Motorsports is a satellite team and works closely with HMS as part of the Chevy team alliance. Kyle Larson has featured in a Spire Motorsports truck while running part-time races. He won the Homestead race last year, driving the No. 07 entry. But Day isn’t likely to make his debut at the Daytona 500.
Andrews mentioned that his portion of the races would come in the middle to latter half of the year. But this is indeed a big step forward for the young driver. A lot of fans assumed he was going to replace Alex Bowman in the No. 48 car. Surprisingly, HMS went with Connor Zilisch, which raised questions about Day’s future and his trajectory toward the Cup Series.
Veteran team owner Rick Hendrick had made his intentions clear regarding Corey Day’s future as an HMS driver. “We have plans for him that go well beyond the next couple of years. So when the timing’s right, he’ll move up. But for right now, Corey’s learning.” Now, with their latest announcement, he is delivering on his promise.
Day has impressed in his rookie year driving the No. 17 car in the O’Reilly Series. He’s already been to Victory Lane twice this year and is racing for the championship. After a runner-up finish at Darlington, Day is placed fifth in the points standings, with a legitimate shot at winning the title.
“The fact that he’s already competing for a championship at this level is extraordinary, and he’s just beginning to scratch the surface. We love Corey’s character and how he fits our organization, and we’re proud to have him with us for many years to come,” Mr. H said in a press release.
Hendrick Motorsports wants Day to ease into the grind of racing on Sundays. Zilisch is the prime example of how a generational talent can fail to live up to expectations if things go wrong in the rookie year. So, it makes sense that HMS wants Day to get more experience on pavement with another full year in the O’Reilly Series, along with a handful of races at the top level.