Denny Hamlin Sends a Strong Warning to Corey Day as He Continues to Commit “Big Ole Blatant Mistakes”

Joe Gibbs Racing veteran Denny Hamlin has shared his thoughts on Corey Day who is making a name for himself for all the wrong reasons.

Denny Hamlin Sends a Strong Warning to Corey Day as He Continues to Commit “Big Ole Blatant Mistakes”

Denny Hamlin and Corey Day (Via IMAGO)

Hedrick Motorsports development driver Corey Day has found himself in the middle of controversies after the first three O’Reilly Auto Parts Series races of the season. He was involved in multiple wrecks in all three events, where the youngster was predominately at fault and refused to take blame.  

Joe Gibbs Racing veteran Denny Hamlin isn’t happy with the youngster after the COTA Connor Zilisch beef and has given the dirt racer a warning about his future in the sport. He highlighted how there hasn’t been any impressive performance from the youngster since securing the seats. He is making enemies left and right with blatant mistakes.

How long does the experiment continue to go? I mean you’ve seen good runs out of him. I haven’t seen a lot of great runs out of him. You’ve seen more mistakes than you’ve seen great runs. And like when I say mistakes, like big ole blatant mistakes. And every weekend there’s some guys that are upset.

Denny Hamlin said via Actions Detrimental.

The 23XI Racing co-owner also addressed the Carson Hocevar of second division tag given to him. He insisted that the Spire drivers’ style isn’t similar to that of Day. Hocevar races really aggressive and make moves on the track to earn track position, while the contact that Day often makes seems to be pointless.

It’s very different than Carson Hocevar, right? Like it feels different in the sense of like Carson’s just really, really aggressive and makes contact where Day just makes contact. There’s a difference.

Denny Hamlin added.

Denny Hamlin questions Hendrick Motorsports’ patience for Corey Day

In the same conversation, he questioned Hendrick Motorsports about how long they are willing to wait for the youngster to develop. He questioned how much leeway are they willing to give Day and how many of his mistakes are they willing to forgive before he starts winning races.

Corey Day
Corey Day (Via nascar.com)

My question will be for Hendrick, because obviously I don’t think they’re in this to, just, for charity reasons. I think they’re trying to develop someone. How long do of a rope do you give him? Is it to the end of the year? Is it next year also? Like, OK, by next year you need to be winning three or four races or more. How long is the rope?

Denny Hamlin said.

Many sees the next Kyle Larson in Corey Day, as the reigning Cup champion was also someone that made a lot of mistakes. But the big defense is Larson also won races, as his mistakes were product of him always racing on the edge.

Because when you make a ton of mistakes like it seems like he’s making, you’ve just got to think that you’re not as willing to deal with not winning if you’re also making mistakes. If you win a lot of races and you’re making a lot of mistakes, it sounds like Kyle Larson. You know what I mean? But yeah, you’re willing to deal with it in the Kyle Larson sense because the guy’s going to win you a ton of races.

Denny Hamlin added.

The three times Daytona 500 champion doesn’t seem to see the Larson-like talent in Day that help HMS in the long-run. One thing is for certain though, HMS needs to talk to their driver and make him realize he needs to clean up his racing, as well as stop making enemies.

Also Read: Denny Hamlin Brands the New All-Star Race Format a “Swing and Miss”