“Ahead of Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell at their age”: 2-time Chili Bowl winner Rico Abreu shares his take on Corey Day

Two-time Chili Bowl winner Rico Abreu considers Corey Day as someone who will soon move up the ladders in his Sprint Car career. Abreu, who is expected to drive alongside NASCAR Cup Series regular Kyle Larson in the Knoxville Nationals, thinks that Corey Day is way ahead of Larson and Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell when they were of Day's age.

After closely missing out on the win, Corey Day finished second behind Kyle Larson in the 29th Annual Sage Front Row Challenge on Monday. He also went up against the 2021 Cup Series champion in the Knoxville Nationals. However, Day ran the prelims on Wednesday while Larson will run the qualifiers today.

It is not easy to tail a six-time Sprint Car winner like Kyle Larson. However, Day's P2 finish at the Southern Iowa Speedway shows how skilled he is at wheeling sprint cars. Speaking of how talented the 18-year-old Clovis native is, Abreu said in a virtual interview with SpeedFreaks,

"He is really young. It's really cool to see someone in our generation at that level. You know, Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson...I feel like he might be kinda ahead of both of them at their age."

"I know he's in really good hands with his father, Ronnie Day; amazing race car driver. You will see him just keep climbing up through the ranks. Might not get much time in his sprint car any longer if he keeps accelerating like he does," the 2014 USAC National Midget Series champion added.

Considering how good Day is doing at the grassroots level, it wouldn't be too far-fetched to assume that he might someday land a Cup Series ride like Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell, who used to be Sprint Car racers just like Day.

Corey Day landed a partnership with Kyle Larson's official sponsor

Corey Day made his ARCA Menards Series debut last month at Salem Speedway, wheeling the No. 28 Pinnacle Racing Group. Pinnacle Racing Group has four wins this season; thanks to Connor Mosack and Connor Zilisch. PRG's latest victory came at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in July.

The news of Day's official ARCA Menards Series debut came with another major announcement. HendrickCars.com, who sponsors Kyle Larson's No. 5 Chevy in the Cup Series, tied hands with Day for his maiden race. Despite having limited experience in running pavement races, Day emerged victorious driving a JR Motorsports Late Model at Hickory Motor Speedway back in April.

In the words of Kyle Larson, as quoted by Matt Weaver of Sportsnaut, Day is "basically the next me (Larson)."

If that is true, Corey Day could someday land a deal with Hendrick Motorsports. As of now, Day has two wins in the World of Outlaws, where Kyle Larson has won 33 times. Day will compete in the ARCA platform on September 19 at Bristol Motor Speedway and on September 27 at Kansas Speedway.