The NASCAR O'Reilly race on San Diego Street Course on Saturday was marred by chaos when a metal piece resembling a manhole cover broke off the road on the first lap, piercing the front of Corey Day's No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Day had started from the back of the grid; an accident the previous day had relegated him to the reserve car, and he was proceeding cautiously on the opening lap. However, luck was on his side: the metal cover went through the front of the car, damaging the radiator.
At the San Diego NASCAR O'Reilly race, a metal cover punctured the nose of Corey Day's car! After a delay of about an hour, Day managed to climb back up to 10th place. #NASCAR #SanDiego #FrenYok pic.twitter.com/1AdNOgtvTy
— Fren Yok (@frenyok46) June 21, 2026
A break of approximately one hour.
Race control initially deployed track workers to place the closure under the track; however, the grinding process proved unsuccessful. After approximately 20 minutes under a yellow flag and six laps completed, NASCAR issued a red flag. The red flag lasted an additional 25 minutes, after which a team consisting of a military tow truck and welding trailer arrived on the scene. Despite approximately 150 closures having been welded to the track prior to the race weekend, the problem persisted, prompting NASCAR to order individual checks of the remaining closures. Following this entire process, the race restarted on lap 10 under a green flag, bringing the total delay to approximately one hour.
Historic exception from NASCAR.
Under normal circumstances, radiator damage would mean the end of the race; however, NASCAR, in an unusual decision, allowed the Hendrick Motorsports team to continue the race by replacing their radiator. In addition, they were permitted to work on the car during the red flag period, a practice normally strictly prohibited. Day pitted and returned before the red flag was lifted; NASCAR then awarded him the laps he had lost. However, to prevent Day from gaining any fuel or tire advantage, he was required to complete each lap individually under the yellow flag; all cars were slowed down to very low speeds while he waited. NASCAR O'Reilly teams generally found this decision justified.
Day's challenging but completed race.
Day's ordeal continued after his return to the race: He nearly had a head-on collision with a safety car moving in the wrong direction, was involved in another accident mid-race, and received a speeding penalty. Despite all these setbacks, Day managed to finish the race in tenth place.