“The Ceiling is There!” Denny Hamlin Makes a Bold Take on Corey Day to HMS Rumors

The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season so far hasn’t been kind to Alex Bowman and to make matters worse, there are rumors Rick Hendrick is looking to replace the No:48 Chevy driver with NOAPs racer Corey Day. JGR veteran Denny Hamlin addressed the reports on the latest episode of his podcast.

The TRD driver doesn’t know how to take the news as he like the majority in the community is uncertain over how legitimate the claims are. Despite being young, Day has been consistent as he won two of the 14 races he started for the No:17 Chevy tea, and has finishes inside the top-15 in all but two races.

I don’t know if y’all are looking at the rumor mill, but he’s starting to make things a little interesting. I don’t know (if it’s legitimate), I don’t know. I truthfully don’t know. I’m not just blowing smoke to not get in the middle of it. But I don’t know. He’s very young, man. It would be … the leap from Saturday to Sunday is a big one.

Denny Hamlin said on his podcast.

But these stats don’t mean the youngster got what it takes to start winning in Cup as there is massive performance gap between the two series. Denny Hamlin things Corey Day would struggle for in the top-division at the starts. So, it would be wise from Rick Hendrick to promote him early to let him learn and struggle when he is young.

Sometimes there’s something to be said about just the sooner you rip off the Band-Aid, the quicker you’ll get to the result that you’re wanting. Yeah, you’re going to struggle for a little while, but you either struggle now or you struggle later. But you all struggle when it’s your first year.

Denny Hamlin added via Actions Detrimental.

Further talking about the point, he highlighted how at HMS the youngster will have everything he needs to thrive and it will be up to him to deliver. The three times Daytona 500 champion knows the Chevy drivers has a high celling unlike majority of his rivals in the second division.

He’s going to have a really, really fast car. But he’s — as a driver/analyst I can see enough when I watch in person and when I watch on TV — he’s able to make moves that I know is very difficult. That’s how you know that, hmm, yeah, the ceiling is there.

Denny Hamlin asserted.

Denny Hamlin reveals the turning point for Corey day in 2026

Despite the consistent top-5 finishes, Day wasn’t highly regarded by critics till he won race 11 at Talladega owing to the fact that he got into wrecks more often that he should. But according to Hamlin one discussion with the boss changed everything for him.

We’ve just seen this, that like he started the year off and we were the critics saying, ‘Man, I just don’t know about this experiment. It just doesn’t seem like he’s getting it. He’s not fast and he’s wrecking. That’s two. You can’t do both.’ And then something clicked… It’s interesting. Didn’t he have a sit-down or something with Jr. or Rick Hendrick? I think there was one.

Denny Hamlin said.

It seems HMS told him what are the opportunities ahead of him and how he is ruining them with the over aggressive style. The potential Cup seat offer inspired him to get better and start winning races as he should be.

I think there was a sit-down with Rick Hendrick, and I could be wrong, but it seemed like from that point on he’s performing like somebody that’s aspiring to race on Sunday. And he’s doing a hell of a job. An absolute hell of a job…

Denny Hamlin added.

The comments from the Toyota driver are on point and shows how much the racing community expect from the HMS prodigy. It would be interesting to see how everything is going to playout for the youngster amidst the promotion rumors.

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