Corey Day Makes ARCA Menards Series Debut at Salem Speedway

A young dirt racing star who has earned praise from NASCAR Cup Series star Kyle Larson will take the next step in his racing career this week. Corey Day, an 18-year-old Sprint Car driver from Clovis, Calif., will make his ARCA Menards Series debut at Salem Speedway on Saturday, July 27.

Day makes his ARCA debut in the No. 28 Chevrolet for Pinnacle Racing Group, a team that has four wins this season with Connor Mosack and Connor Zilisch behind the wheel. Zilisch most recently took PRG to victory lane Friday night in the ARCA Menards Series race at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.

In April, Day made his asphalt racing debut in the JR Motorsports Late Model Stock Car at Hickory Motor Speedway. After a seventh-place finish in the first 40-lap feature, he led every lap of the second feature to claim his first asphalt victory. He has not raced in a asphalt race since that night.

VIDEO: Highlights and interview about Corey Day’s first Late Model victory on the asphalt.

Day is now making his ARCA Menards Series debut and his second-ever asphalt race start on one of the most challenging asphalt short tracks in the country at Salem Speedway. Salem Speedway is a 0.555-mile oval with 33-degree bank in the turns, the same banking as Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. The only asphalt track with more bank in America is Winchester Speedway, Salem’s sister track in Indiana.

The California native is attempting to follow the path previously trodden by drivers like Larson, who claimed his first Brickyard 400 victory on Sunday, and Christopher Bell, both of whom came from the Sprint Car and Midget racing worlds and are now regularly competing for race wins and championships at the highest level of NASCAR.

Day is a five-time winner this season with Kubota High Limit Racing and currently sits fifth in the series points standings. He also has a World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series victory at Knoxville Raceway and won the $62,000-to-win Super Dirt Cup at Skagit Speedway.