Kyle Larson Goes Against Entire NASCAR Fandom, Defends Rick Hendrick’s Star Despite Blatant Kansas Antics

Corey Day has received a lot of backlash recently. At Kansas Speedway, the rookie driver, who is 18 years old, was involved in two events that occurred on the course. After crashing into Andy Jankowiak on the last lap of the ARCA Menards Series, the California native—who was being hailed as the next Kyle Larson—came under fire from NASCAR fans. Additionally, in the closing stages of the Kubota Tractor 200, he was forced to retire early when his car collided with Matt Mills’ No. 42 Chevy.

While it might seem like the entire NASCAR community is against him, Corey Day has at least one supporter. His idol Kyle Larson has publicly backed the youngster despite recent incidents in Kansas.

Kyle Larson urges patience with Rick Hendrick’s star

For Corey Day, the weekend was filled with highs and lows. With a fourth-place finish, he had his best ARCA Menards Series result to date, although a last-lap incident forced him to collide with Andy Jankowiak after the race. His second Truck Series race proved to be even more dramatic as a Lap 77 incident with Matt Mills put an early end to his run.

Day will find comfort in public defence despite the anger from NASCAR fans. “I think you can look at my first few Truck starts and really like Homestead, I think you know, like I wreck the field you know, pulling a similar move,” the Hendrick Motorsports driver said, drawing comparisons with his professional life. However, I believe that when you’re young and haven’t grown up around stock cars, you have a lot to learn, and I believe that was actually his first experience with various aero situations.

Larson also said that Corey Day would gain a lot of knowledge from the on-track occurrences in Kansas as he works to ensure a long-term career in NASCAR. The Cup Series winner for 2021 continued to remark, “I’m sure he learned a lot from yesterday’s day, and you have a better idea of how to position your car and whether to take runs, whether to take every run, and other things like that.” He is obviously really talented, and I believe there is a lot of excitement about him, but he is still very new to stock cars, so he needs to pick things up quickly.

Corey Day is a sprint racing veteran who is acclimating to NASCAR quickly. He will undoubtedly make mistakes in his early career because he is only eighteen, but Hendrick Motorsports’ choice to recruit him as a development driver indicates their belief in his potential. He has also received support from Jeff Gordon to compete at the highest level of stock car racing. But will he be able to live up to these lofty standards, or will he falter under duress?

Day needs to resist letting the parallels to Kyle Larson, who has been called “basically me” by Larson, get to him too much. Rather than giving in to pressure from the media and fans, the McAnally-Hilgemann Racing driver needs to concentrate on continuous improvement and take his career one step at a time. It will be essential to have a long-term view if he hopes to reach the Cup Series.