O’Reilly: Rockingham Mid-Race Report

What’s Happening?

We are now 120 laps into the North Carolina Education Lottery 250 at the historic Rockingham Speedway. The race so far has been the Corey Day show, with Day leading a majority of the laps early on. As we gear up for the final 130 laps of the race, here’s what you need to keep in mind.

Mid-Race Report

• The first half of Stage 1 was the Corey Day show as the young Hendrick Motorsports phenom led the first 50 laps of the race. The caution flag came out on Lap 49 when Blake Lothian spun after getting tagged from behind by Cleetus McFarland. This prompted Day and many of the leaders to come down pit road. Seven drivers, however, stayed out as Taylor Gray assumed the race lead. But the older tires were no match for the newer ones as Day retook the lead with 3 laps remaining in the stage. He went on to capture the stage victory. It marked the first stage win of his career.
• The top 10 to end the stage were a mix of strategies, with some drivers on new tires and some on old. The point earners for Stage 1 are as follows: Corey Day (10), Taylor Gray (9), Brandon Jones (8), Justin Allgaier (7), William Sawalich (6), Jesse Love (5), Sammy Smith (4), Rajah Caruth (3), Brent Crews (2), and Parker Retzlaff (1).
• Corey Day again continued his dominating performance by leading the first half of the second stage. On Lap 94, Jeremy Clement’s No. 51 car stepped out on him while he was running in the top 10. This resulted in him spinning and the caution coming out. With 25 laps remaining in the stage, Jesse Love pitted while the leaders stayed out. The race restarted with Day getting a great jump over Brandon Jones. He went on to sweep the stages, earning his first 2 stage victories of his career and leading 115 of the opening 120 laps.
• Earning points in Stage 2 were: Corey Day (10), William Sawalich (9), Justin Allgaier (8), Brent Crews (7), Brandon Jones (6), Rajah Caruth (5), Parker Retzlaff (4), Sheldon Creed (3), Jeremy Clements (2), and Carson Kvapil (1).
• Cleetus McFarland started the race with a big slide, which caused him to get way off the pace. Miraculously, he somehow saved that No. 33 machine for RCR like a veteran. It would appear that his experience in the earlier ARCA Menards Series race paid off somewhat.

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