Corey Day won Night #1 of the Gold Cup Thursday (Video Highlights from FloRacing.com)
Give Corey Day a cushion like the one Silver Dollar Speedway did on Thursday night, and you're going to see some things.
The 18-year-old teenage sensation wowed everyone yet again, starting off his title defense of the Gold Cup Race of Champions on the right foot with an 8th-to-1st victory in Thursday's opening preliminary night.
It was a 30-lapper that saw three different leaders with Kubota High Limit Racing regulars and California natives Corey Day and Brad Sweet being the true stars of the show - swapping the lead multiple times, exchanging sliders on both ends, and sharing some extra tight moments together in lap traffic.
Once Day went full send on the turns one and two curb to barely squeeze by Sweet on Lap 24, the writing was on the wall. That didn't prevent an event-altering moment, though, as Sweet's Kasey Kahne Racing, NAPA Auto Parts #49 would go over the edge and into the wall a few laps later - ending his podium run.
Surviving one final restart, Day held on to claim his ninth victory of 2024 aboard the Jason Meyers Racing, Driven2SaveLives #14. With a near perfect 394-points on his tally, the Clovis, CA native secured high point honors and locked-in for Saturday's $100,070-to-win Gold Cup Race of Champions finale.
Following Day to the line in P2 was Spencer Bayston aboard the CJB Motorsports, TrueTimber #5 - a career-best effort at Silver Dollar Speedway for the Lebanon, IN native. His 385-point total was enough to barely squeak by Chase Johnson by one point to lock-in to Saturday along with Day.
Johnson, of Penngrove, CA, held on for the final podium position after leading the first six laps from the pole position, but that one costly point kept him away from locking-in. He'll take the #24 to Saturday Heat Races, likely lining up on the pole of one of them, needing a win to take him to the Dash.
Rounding out the top-10 on Thursday was Chris Windom, Shane Golobic, Zeb Wise, Andy Forsberg, Sean Becker, Dylan Bloomfield, and Ryan Bernal.
THE ALL-IN NOTEBOOK (8/22/24)
Silver Dollar Speedway (Chico, CA)
Capitol Custom Trailers QuickTime - Corey Day (11.890)
TJ Forged Heat One Winner - Zeb Wise
DMI Heat Two Winner - Justyn Cox
BR Motorsports Heat Three Winner - Chase Johnson
Winters Performance Heat Four Winner - Andy Forsberg
FK Rod Ends B-Main Winner - Robbie Price
Jake's Golf Carts Fastest Lap Award - Corey Day (13.108)
Hard Charger - Cole Macedo +13, 24th-to-11th
Lap Leaders - Chase Johnson 1-6; Brad Sweet 7; Corey Day 8-22; Brad Sweet 23; Corey Day 24-30.
Capital Custom Trailers Qualifying
1. 14-Corey Day, 11.890[32]
2. 13-Justin Peck, 11.899[3]
3. 21P-Robbie Price, 11.907[4]
4. 45-Landon Brooks, 11.979[8]
5. 1A-Jacob Allen, 12.010[6]
6. 49-Brad Sweet, 12.026[15]
7. 2XM-Max Mittry, 12.097[2]
8. 55-Chris Windom, 12.175[1]
9. 5-Spencer Bayston, 12.188[16]
10. 7B-Sean Becker, 12.192[27]
11. 24C-Chase Johnson, 12.192[9]
12. 17W-Shane Golobic, 12.197[21]
13. 15-Nick Parker, 12.197[25]
14. 18-Dylan Bloomfield, 12.244[11]
15. 83T-Tanner Carrick, 12.245[29]
16. 18T-Tanner Holmes, 12.247[12]
17. 26-Zeb Wise, 12.263[10]
18. 29-Willie Croft, 12.278[18]
19. 45M-Jake Morgan, 12.376[5]
20. 2K-Gauge Garcia, 12.440[17]
21. 12J-John Clark, 12.474[7]
22. 42X-Justyn Cox, 12.555[19]
23. 88A-Joey Ancona, 12.569[23]
24. 92-Andy Forsberg, 12.585[30]
25. 9P-Parker Price Miller, 12.614[24]
26. 3-Kaleb Montgomery, 12.672[13]
27. 73-Ryan Bernal, 12.786[22]
28. 55D-Dawson Hammes, 12.791[20]
29. 87-Ashlyn Rodriguez, 13.057[26]
30. 24K-Koa Crane, 13.064[31]
31. 77-Ryan Lippincott, 13.467[28]
32. 5H-Josh Wiesz, 13.618[33]
33. 21-Cole Macedo, [14]
TJ Forged Heat Race #1 (10 Laps)
1. 26-Zeb Wise[2]
2. 15-Nick Parker[3]
3. 5-Spencer Bayston[4]
4. 14-Corey Day[6]
5. 9P-Parker Price Miller[7]
6. 21-Cole Macedo[9]
7. 12J-John Clark[1]
8. 1A-Jacob Allen[5]
9. 87-Ashlyn Rodriguez[8]
DMI Heat Race #2 (10 Laps)
1. 42X-Justyn Cox[1]
2. 49-Brad Sweet[5]
3. 18-Dylan Bloomfield[3]
4. 13-Justin Peck[6]
5. 7B-Sean Becker[4]
6. 29-Willie Croft[2]
7. 24K-Koa Crane[8]
8. 3-Kaleb Montgomery[7]
BR Motorsports Heat Race #3 (10 Laps)
1. 24C-Chase Johnson[4]
2. 88A-Joey Ancona[1]
3. 73-Ryan Bernal[7]
4. 45M-Jake Morgan[2]
5. 83T-Tanner Carrick[3]
6. 21P-Robbie Price[6]
7. 77-Ryan Lippincott[8]
8. 2XM-Max Mittry[5]
Winters Performance Heat Race #4 (10 Laps)
1. 92-Andy Forsberg[1]
2. 17W-Shane Golobic[4]
3. 45-Landon Brooks[6]
4. 55-Chris Windom[5]
5. 2K-Gauge Garcia[2]
6. 18T-Tanner Holmes[3]
7. 55D-Dawson Hammes[7]
8. 5H-Josh Wiesz[8]
B-Main (12 Laps)
1. 21P-Robbie Price[1]
2. 18T-Tanner Holmes[4]
3. 2XM-Max Mittry[3]
4. 21-Cole Macedo[11]
5. 1A-Jacob Allen[2]
6. 12J-John Clark[6]
7. 29-Willie Croft[5]
8. 55D-Dawson Hammes[8]
9. 77-Ryan Lippincott[10]
10. 24K-Koa Crane[9]
11. 87-Ashlyn Rodriguez[12]
12. 5H-Josh Wiesz[13]
13. 3-Kaleb Montgomery[7]
Kubota A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 14-Corey Day[8]
2. 5-Spencer Bayston[3]
3. 24C-Chase Johnson[1]
4. 55-Chris Windom[4]
5. 17W-Shane Golobic[9]
6. 26-Zeb Wise[11]
7. 92-Andy Forsberg[15]
8. 7B-Sean Becker[2]
9. 18-Dylan Bloomfield[12]
10. 73-Ryan Bernal[19]
11. 21-Cole Macedo[24]
12. 49-Brad Sweet[5]
13. 42X-Justyn Cox[13]
14. 13-Justin Peck[7]
15. 9P-Parker Price Miller[20]
16. 83T-Tanner Carrick[14]
17. 2K-Gauge Garcia[18]
18. 18T-Tanner Holmes[22]
19. 2XM-Max Mittry[23]
20. 21P-Robbie Price[21]
21. 45M-Jake Morgan[16]
22. 15-Nick Parker[10]
23. 45-Landon Brooks[6]
24. 88A-Joey Ancona[17]
UP NEXT: The 70th Gold Cup Race of Champions continues on Friday, August 23 with a whole new batch of Kubota High Limit Sprint Car competitors taking the track at Chico, California's Silver Dollar Speedway for their preliminary night.