It's never good when Race Control needs to call for a welder on the first lap of a street course race.
Corey Day had started from the very rear of the field in Saturday's NASCAR O'Reilly race after a crash yesterday forced him into a backup car. He was being cautious on the opening lap of the race, but it didn't matter.
Unfortunately, luck wasn't on his side as a metal cover of some kind (similar to a manhole cover) came up and went straight through the nose of his No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
Day made it all the way back to the pits with a huge hole in the nose, and the metal cover resting inside. Crew members promptly removed it, which can be seen below:
Caution is out for ... a manhole cover in @corey_day_'s radiator.
— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) June 20, 2026
Day of many firsts here at San Diego. pic.twitter.com/fghOmk4qXs
NASCAR didn't halt the race initially as track workers began grinding the cover down to get it back into place, but it proved difficult. After about 20 minutes under caution and six laps into the event, NASCAR finally relented and red-flagged the race. The red flag was lifted after about 25 additional minutes.
A military truck towing a welding trailer arrived on the scene soon after. About 150 covers were welded into place ahead of the race weekend, and NASCAR ordered that the other covers be checked as well.
After the Lap 1 yellow, it took about an hour before the race was back under green-flag conditions on Lap 10.
https://t.co/L4CQuoB8uK pic.twitter.com/QfGqZ2WW9h
— Matt Weaver (@MattWeaverRA) June 20, 2026
NASCAR making rare exception for Day, changing several rules
With a hole in the radiator, Day's race would have been over any other race weekend, but NASCAR made the rare call to allow HMS to change the radiator and return to the race (many laps down) due to the circumstances around it.
They are also allowing the team to continue working under the red flag, which is normally prohibited. While Day returned to the race before the red flag even ended, and NASCAR gave him all of the laps he lost back. He did have to lap the track under yellow and actually get each of the laps back, to ensure he didn't have a fuel or tire advantage.
They even slowed down the entire field to a crawl, waiting for Day to unlap himself multiple times.
However, the drama wasn't over for Day even after re-joining the race, nearly colliding with a safety truck that was driving the opposite way around the track. He was later involved in a mid-race crash, got a speeding penalty, but still managed to score a top ten finish, placing tenth.
Corey!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/N0CsQMjZMo
— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) June 20, 2026
