While many believed that Corey Day, not Connor Zilisch, should have been the driver selected to replace Alex Bowman behind the wheel of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for the 2028 NASCAR Cup Series season, following the announcement that the 2027 season would be Bowman's last, there are clearly no hard feelings after the perceived snub.
It was confirmed shortly thereafter that Day would be back for a second full season behind the wheel of the team's No. 17 Chevrolet in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series. Day has impressed as a rookie in 2026 after running a part-time schedule in 2025, as he sits fifth in the point standings with two wins, one race into the nine-race postseason.
Now it has been confirmed that the 20-year-old native of Clovis, California has signed a "long-term" contract extension to remain with Hendrick Motorsports for the foreseeable future, and that deal is set to include select Cup Series starts starting in 2027.
What does Corey Day's new Hendrick deal mean?
First and foremost, Cup Series teams are currently only allowed to run four cars in any given race, whether no matter how many cars they run full-time, so it remains to be seen how, exactly, Hendrick will facilitate his Cup deal and what car he'll drive (and most importantly, for which team). Likewise, his exact schedule hasn't yet been confirmed.
What is also interesting about this long-term deal is the fact that even after the announcement, Day still doesn't have a clear path to the Cup level, much less with Hendrick.
Kyle Larson recently signed a contract extension to keep him in the No. 5 Chevrolet through 2031 and William Byron signed one a year ago to keep in him the No. 24 Chevrolet through 2029. And, of course, Zilisch's multi-year is only set to go into effect in 2028, meaning he's locked in through at least 2029.
Chase Elliott is only under contract to drive the No. 9 Chevrolet through 2027, but his most recent deal was a five-year deal that he signed just before the 2022 season, the final year of his previous contract, so it would be a surprise if he enters 2027 without a deal to compete into the 2030s himself.
The most likely avenue for Day to compete in select Cup races would appear to be in with Spire Motorsports, given their partnership with Hendrick Motorsports. And while Tristan McKee is viewed as their driver of the future, he only just turned 16 years old, so Day could be a viable candidate to replace Michael McDowell full-time behind the wheel of the No. 71 Chevrolet whenever he retires.
