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Trent Gower Photo
The Californian charges from fourth to score his third career World of Outlaws win
The Sprint Car world may not be treated to Corey Day’s talents on a weekly basis anymore, but he still makes his presence felt whenever he does get behind the wheel.
Opportunities to elevate his racing career on pavement meant a reduced dirt schedule in 2025. The Premier Chevy Dealers Clash at Knoxville Raceway was an open weekend, so he hopped aboard the Jason Meyers Racing No. 14BC to battle the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series.
A productive 10th to fifth run was the result of Friday’s Feature, and Day was a man on a mission on Saturday. The Clovis, CA native lined up fourth for the 25-lapper and ripped into second on the opening circuit. He slipped to third briefly as Ryan Timms drove by but quickly reclaimed second and had polesitter Brad Sweet in the crosshairs.
Day reeled in the Kasey Kahne Racing No. 49 and pulled the trigger on a Lap 9 slider that stuck to take the top spot. The 19-year-old phenom then set sail for the next chunk of the race, but Friday’s winner David Gravel began to become a factor.
Gravel went from fourth to second in only two laps, and the gap between himself and Day began to shrink and shrink. The white flag flew, and the Big Game Motorsports No. 2 was close enough to give it one shot. Gravel went for a slide job in the final set of corners, but a lapped car on the bottom didn’t allow him to have the space he needed to clear Day. The checkered flag flew, and Day got there first.
“Glad it worked out,” Day said. “I hate that he (Gravel) got close. I don’t like to make them close at all. I like to win them by a lot, so we’ll work on that for the (Knoxville) Nationals. Hats off to Wayne Priddy. I destroyed our good car at Eagle (Raceway), and it’s been a work in progress with this one. To win an Outlaw race at Knoxville with it in such a short amount of time is something to be really proud of.”
Day’s win was his third with The Greatest Show on Dirt as he added Saturday’s score to the 2023 Gold Cup Race of Champions title at Silver Dollar Speedway and a Knoxville victory at the same event last season. Day became the 20th driver with multiple Knoxville checkered flags in World of Outlaws competition.
Gravel came up just short of sweeping the Premier Chevy Dealers Clash after his slide job wasn’t enough to clear Day. The defending Series champion likely had the fastest machine on track, but a few small mistakes might’ve been the difference. The runner-up made Gravel the first to reach 20 podiums in 2025.
“I felt really good,” Gravel said. “I tried running the bottom a few times, and one time it really cost me a lot of time. Those last 10 laps I could really carry some speed through the corner. I wish I could take a couple laps back and gain some of that time back. Obviously, we had the fastest race car there at the end. These guys continue to give me fast race cars every single night, and it’s my job to get the win.”
Michael “Buddy” Kofoid wheeled the Roth Motorsports No. 83 from 10th to third to round out the podium. The Penngrove, CA native continues to hold down the second spot in points as he’s tallied four top fives in the last five races.
“I just got to working the top really good and could make a lot of speed up there,” Kofoid said. “And I could move down to the bottom if I needed to. I didn’t run it all that much, but when I did go down there, I felt like I’ve never been able to hit it better. That’s what helped me get to those guys is just being maneuverable.”
Anthony Macri and Brad Sweet completed the top five.
Carson Macedo took the Jason Johnson Racing No. 41 from 22nd to 11th to earn the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger.
Austin McCarl claimed Simpson Quick Time honors in Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying.
Heat Races belonged to Bill Balog (NOS Energy Drink Heat One), Ryan Timms (Real American Beer Heat Two), Brad Sweet (WIX Filters Heat Three), and David Gravel (TheGreatestStoreonDirt.com Heat Four).
The #SPA Technique #1 Redraw went to Bill Balog.
Brad Sweet topped the Toyota Dash.
Cole Macedo won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.
The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to Bill Balog.
UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars head to Huset’s Speedway with major money on the line. The BillionAuto.com Huset’s High Bank Nationals presented by Menards begins with the Huset’s Hustle on June 18-19 when a $20,000-to-win prelim sets the stage for a $100,000 prize on Thursday. Then on June 20-21, it’s another $20,000 prelim prize before Saturday’s finale hands out a whopping $250,000 to the winner. 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. 14BC-Corey Day[4]; 2. 2-David Gravel[6]; 3. 83-Michael Kofoid[10]; 4. 39M-Anthony Macri[7]; 5. 49-Brad Sweet[1]; 6. 10-Ryan Timms[3]; 7. 55V-Kerry Madsen[12]; 8. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[9]; 9. 87-Aaron Reutzel[8]; 10. 24A-Rico Abreu[14]; 11. 41-Carson Macedo[22]; 12. 1S-Logan Schuchart[13]; 13. 88-Austin McCarl[17]; 14. 5-Brenham Crouch[16]; 15. 15-Donny Schatz[20]; 16. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[5]; 17. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[23]; 18. 2C-Cole Macedo[21]; 19. 17B-Bill Balog[2]; 20. 23-Garet Williamson[15]; 21. 44-Chris Martin[11]; 22. 6K-Kaleb Johnson[19]; 23. 27-Emerson Axsom[18]; 24. 21-Brian Brown[24]; 25. 7S-Chris Windom[25]
For complete results, CLICK HERE.
