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Alex Nieten
Emily Schwanke Photo
Corey Day is something special.
From the time he first climbed in a Sprint Car, it was clear he was heading for stardom. Winning Sprint Car races as early as 15 years of age on the west coast. A Northern Auto Racing Club championship last year. He even won his pavement late model debut earlier this year. And now the national star has an item on his résumé every Sprint Car driver strives for – a Knoxville Raceway win with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars.
The Clovis, CA native started second in the 25-lap finale of the Premier Chevy Dealers Clash aboard the Jason Meyers Racing #14. He faced off with Logan Schuchart in a multi-lap battle for the top spot. After misfortune struck Schuchart, the 18-year-old held off one of the greatest of all time – Donny Schatz – to seal the deal.
“I always thought just winning at Knoxville would be badass,” Day said. “But to win an Outlaw race here means so much more. I’ve just got to give it up to my whole team.”
Day became the 102nd driver in World of Outlaws history with multiple Series victories. He got his first last September when he topped the Gold Cup Race of Champions. He’s also the 35th competitor to claim a Knoxville Feature with The Greatest Show on Dirt.
Logan Schuchart brought the field to green for the main event. The Shark Racing driver opted to roll the bottom around the half mile through the early laps. Day jumped to the top and looked to build momentum on the cushion. He took a peek to Schuchart’s inside on the fourth lap, but Schuchart shut the door.
An early caution warranted a restart that saw the action heat up. Schuchart pulled ahead while Day, Donny Schatz and David Gravel squared off for the runner-up spot. Schatz attempted to split the two down the front straightaway, but Day slammed the door shut entering Turn 1 to hold him off. A couple laps later Schatz slipped under Day for second in Turns 3 and 4, but Day powered back around the 10-time champion on the top on the next lap.
As Schuchart worked through traffic his lead began to shrink. The advantage was above two seconds on Lap 11 and trimmed to only two tenths of a second by Lap 14. Two circuits later, Day made his move as he ripped the cushion and blasted by Schuchart.
Day moved away from Schuchart after taking the top spot, but it didn’t take long for Schuchart to begin to reel him back in. On Lap 21 Schuchart got a run off the bottom of Turn 2 and closed down the back straightaway. He stuck the bottom again in Turns 3 and 4 and cleared Day for the lead by the time they exited the corner.
But on the following lap Schuchart’s bid for his first win of 2024 ended in devastating fashion. The Hanover, PA native looked to go under a lapped car in Turns 1 and 2, but the car went to the bottom. Schuchart then looked to slide up to the cushion, but Day ripped by him before he could get there. And then when Schuchart’s right rear tire did meet the curb, it knocked him around and sent his front end into the wall, putting an early punctuation mark on his night.
The yellow set up a restart with only three laps remaining. The names Day would have to hold off right behind him were Donny Schatz, David Gravel and Kyle Larson – a trio of the sport’s best. But in typical Corey Day fashion, he didn’t flinch when the green lights restarted the action. He drove away from Schatz on his way to his first Knoxville checkered flag.
“I feel like around the top I was the better car for sure,” Day said of his battle with Schuchart. “He was really good. He left me by about a straightaway in that Dash, and I thought we were in trouble. But I think it got just slow enough in the middle of (Turns) 1 and 2 to where I could make enough speed on entry to get close to him and get a good drive off. I’m just so proud of my guys.”
Schatz brought the Tony Stewart/Curb Agajanian Racing No. 15 home second for his 10th World of Outlaws podium of the season. It’s the 26th consecutive season he’s earned at least 10 top threes. The outing helped him reclaim second in the standings. He’s 56 markers behind Gravel for the lead.
Completing the podium was Kyle Larson as he took the Silva Motorsports No. 57 from 13th to third. Earlier in the day he claimed the pole for the NASCAR Cup Series debut at Iowa Speedway, and he finished the evening by grabbing his second podium in three tries this year with the World of Outlaws.
David Gravel and Scott Bogucki rounded out the top five.
A 23rd to 10th run gave Aaron Reutzel the KSE Racing Hard Charger.
In Sea Foam Qualifying, Daryn Pittman picked up his first Simpson Quick Time in two years and the 62nd of his career.
NOS Energy Drink Heats One, Three, and Four went to Donny Schatz (526th Heat Race win of career), Scott Bogucki (first of career), and Corey Day (fifth of career). Milton Hershey School Heat Two belonged to Logan Schuchart (123rd of career).
Logan Schuchart topped the Toyota Racing Dash.
Brent Marks won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.
The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to Logan Schuchart.
UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars head to Huset’s Speedway for a lucrative four days of racing. The High Bank Hustle (June 19-20) ends with a $100,00 main event before the High Bank Hustle (June 21-22) wraps up with a $250,000 finale. For tickets, CLICK HERE.
If you can’t make it to the track, catch every lap live on DIRTVision.
FEATURE RESULTS:
NOS Energy Drink Feature (25 Laps): 1. 14-Corey Day[2]; 2. 15-Donny Schatz[4]; 3. 57-Kyle Larson[13]; 4. 2-David Gravel[3]; 5. 10-Scott Bogucki[6]; 6. 21-Brian Brown[10]; 7. 83SR-James McFadden[11]; 8. 88-Austin McCarl[7]; 9. 49-Brad Sweet[12]; 10. 87-Aaron Reutzel[23]; 11. 2KS-Chase Randall[17]; 12. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[9]; 13. 69K-Daryn Pittman[8]; 14. 83-Michael Kofoid[25]; 15. 19-Brent Marks[21]; 16. 41-Carson Macedo[15]; 17. 8-Cory Eliason[24]; 18. 27-Emerson Axsom[5]; 19. 27X-Carson McCarl[19]; 20. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[18]; 21. 24-Rico Abreu[22]; 22. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[14]; 23. 3P-Sawyer Phillips[28]; 24. 17B-Bill Balog[20]; 25. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[27]; 26. 09-Matt Juhl[26]; 27. 1S-Logan Schuchart[1]; 28. 2K-Lynton Jeffrey[16]
For complete results, CLICK HERE.
