Corey Day has two wins, 15 top-10 finishes, and a spot secured in the Chase of the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. He sits fifth in the standings with one race left in the regular season. However, for Hendrick Motorsports, that wasn’t enough to hand him a spot in the No. 48 Cup Series team for 2028.
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That seat has already been confirmed for Connor Zilisch, as revealed earlier this week. So, on August 18, Rick Hendrick had some explaining to do.
“First of all, Corey Day is a tremendous talent, and our plan is for him to be in our future for a long time,” Hendrick said in a press conference.
“People don’t realize he’s only been on pavement about half a year, and so it’s going to be good to watch him grow. We have plans for him that go well beyond the next couple of years. So when the timing’s right, he’ll move up,” he added.
Day learned the craft racing dirt sprint cars. Now, he is learning asphalt racing at the highest developmental level in one of the sport’s most demanding programs at Hendrick Motorsports. And team owner Rick is well aware of that. So, the plan is to keep him in the No. 17 Chevrolet in the O’Reilly Series for another year before considering any Cup Series opportunities.
“I love the youth. I love the enthusiasm. I love the energy and the talent,” Rick Hendrick added.
It’s also likely that Hendrick doesn’t want to rush him to the Cup Series and derail his confidence. That happened with Zilisch this year.
After winning 10 races in the O’Reilly Series in 2025 and finishing second in the standings, Trackhouse Racing signed Zilisch, bringing plenty of pressure to deliver. However, he has struggled throughout the season and sits 34th in the standings, with eight DNFs and just one top-10 finish. It has also become clear that he still has plenty to learn.
The oval tracks caught him off guard. His background is in road course racing and karting, while Cup ovals require a completely different approach. Managing tires over long runs, dealing with dirty air in traffic, and knowing when to lift are all things Zilisch has had to learn on the fly at the highest level.
It’s not entirely Zilisch’s fault, of course. It’s been a difficult season for Trackhouse Racing, which has struggled for speed for months. The organization’s only two wins have come at road courses, both with Shane van Gisbergen. So, a rookie learning the Cup Series while his team is also searching for speed is a tough situation to be in.
Kyle Larson publicly defended him, saying the rough rookie season does not reflect Zilisch’s actual ability. Rick Hendrick clearly believes the same. But as a case study in what happens when a talent moves up before the time is right, 2026 has been hard to watch.
Hendrick’s roster is set through 2028. Larson, Chase Elliott, William Byron, and Zilisch fill all four seats. Day is not getting a Cup ride from within the organization anytime soon, and Rick Hendrick is not pretending otherwise. The expected path runs through part-time Cup starts with alliance partners like Spire Motorsports, enough to get laps without the pressure of a full points season.
It is the same road 23XI Racing took for Corey Heim. Denny Hamlin kept Heim in the lower series until he had nothing left to prove, then brought him up on his own terms. The result was a driver who came to the Cup Series ready, and Heim showed that, winning twice this season.
The difference is Day is doing it with half the asphalt experience most drivers his age already have. That makes what he has done in 2026 more impressive, not less. Rick Hendrick knows it. The seat will come.