Corey Day crashes, goes a lap down, somehow matches career-best finish

Corey Day has now finished fourth twice in his NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts career, but his journey there on Saturday was a messy one.

It started with, Ryan Sieg, who was hoping to carry momentum over from a solid season-opener where he finished third at Daytona. However, his day came to an abrupt end after just five laps into the Atlanta NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts (NOAPS) race.

Day tried to get underneath Sieg exiting Turn 4, taking him three-wide up the middle. However, he quickly ran out of room and Sieg got sent up the track, slamming into the outside wall. Harrison Burton, Blaine Perkins, and Ryan's brother Kyle Sieg all plowed into the accident, suffering heavy damage. Patrick Staropoli also got a piece of it.

Ryan Sieg crash

Photo by: Sean Gardner / Getty Images

After being released from the infield care center, Sieg, who operates as an independent driver/owner, was still heated over the incident.

"Yeah, it's lap three, I think," said Sieg. "So, we're just riding, just kind of staying in the line, trying to get our line going, and then he's got somewhat of a hole, and he just goes in it ... I mean, what's the point? It's lap three. that's just his normal race anyways, tearing up cars. He's like that. At Martinsville, he only wrecked 15 times in one lap. So, I mean, last week he did that about four or five times at Daytona, so here we are again on lap three, just not smart."

However, that wasn't Day's last run-in of the night. Later in the race with 59 laps to go, he was battling Carson Kvapil for the lead when he pushed up the track, triggering a three-car crash at the very front of the field. Both Kvapil and Justin Allgaier were unable to continue.

Day radioed that he had a tire going down, but it was another rocky chapter in a wild race for the rookie driver. He fell a lap down, but earned the free pass and drove back up inside the top ten. As chaos unfolded in the final laps, he managed to get all the way up to fourth -- matching his previous best from Las Vegas last fall.

Day reacts to incidents

Speaking with Motorsport.com's Matt Weaver after the checkered flag, Day reflected on a tumultuous race. 

Yeah, super challenging," remarked Day. "No practice. Luckily, I got to the second round of qualifying, so I got a couple more laps in it. Unfortunately there, I just haven't ran around cars here ever. Didn't know how tight three wide was off of (Turn) 4. Put my nose where I shouldn't have on the #39 [Sieg] there, so I apologize to him. It was the last thing I wanted to do Lap 4 of the race, so I'm sure he's upset and rightfully so. So, I apologize to him."

The No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports team made good progress on the car and Day crept closer to the front as the race went deeper into the evening. At the start of the final stage, he was battling for the lead when the tire went down and he eliminated two strong JR Motorsports cars. 

On that incident, he told Motorsport.com: "Just, literally, I think the worst time and place to blow a right front. So, I apologize to my teammates there. I wish it would have blown before I had pulled down to the bottom, so I would have known and could have just stayed up to the top and hopefully got to pit road. But, yeah, there's kind of a little bump there into the 3 where you go over the tunnel and you compress really hard. And just kind of as it compressed, I had wheel in it because the #1 [Kvapil] was on my right front and just rubbed and blew right then and there. So, I apologize to him and those guys for sure. 

"But just a big thanks to my guys, too, for getting it fixed up on the stops and keeping it competitive to run fourth after all that. It says a lot about my team."