Corey Day can’t avoid the comparisons. As a successful sprint-car racer, he naturally would get compared to Kyle Larson, arguably the most accomplished sprint-car racer to find success in NASCAR.
And it isn’t just the media making that comparison.
“Watching his style, I feel like that’s what I look like a lot out there with how hard he runs,” Larson said last year. “I was not that in control at [age] 18, but he’s very in control with how hard he runs. He’s very calculated.
“I feel like he makes really smart, quick decisions out there on the track. … I’m excited to kind of see where his career ends up.”
Where it is now is having signed with Hendrick Motorsports in December. He will drive a mix of national series events this year, coming off a season where he won 10 features, primarily in sprint cars, as well as becoming the youngest winner at Turkey Night at Ventura (Calif.) Speedway — the youngest winner ever in that race.
Day, who is now 19 years old, doesn’t sweat the comments from Larson as bringing too much pressure or too much attention on him. Those endorsements and his performance has vaulted him into the top 10 of my preseason prospect rankings.
“I love hearing it,” Day said. “I definitely looked up to Kyle for a long time. I’m 19, but I was a young kid still when Kyle was doing Kyle things. It’s super cool to always hear and I don’t put the pressure on me — I know that him speaking the praises he does, all the fans are going to hold me to a higher standard.
“At the end of the day, I’ve just got to go do my job. That’s what he’s speaking the praises about.”
The biggest challenge for Day, who will run a schedule that includes select Xfinity and truck and ARCA races, will likely be dicey and brutal NASCAR restarts.
“In a sprint car, you don’t have to lift, really — it’s just a way different style,” Day said. “The restarts are tough for sure. Just finding the limit of the car is tough for me — it’s always different on a restart to where your lift points different.
“I’m good at restarts in dirt car and I make passes. But it’s definitely a lot different with the aero factor and everything. On pavement, I’ve still yet to get good at them.”
Here are my 2025 preseason prospect rankings of drivers you should watch as far as their possibility of becoming Cup drivers. A few parameters: No driver who has had a season in Cup is on this list and a driver must be younger than 28 years old. Driver talent is the main criteria, but marketability as well as funding (through family or a sponsor connection) are also considered.
1. Corey Heim (age: 22; previous ranking: 1): Heim returns for a third full season in trucks at Tricon after two seasons where he made the Champ 4 but came up empty. He is 23XI’s reserve driver and should get some Cup races with the team this year in a fourth car (non-chartered). There is a plan to get him to Cup for 23XI, but it just might not go as fast as some believe should.
2. Connor Zilisch (age: 18; previous ranking: 2): Zilisch had a heck of a 2023 when he won the pole for his first truck race (at Circuit of the Americas) and won the pole AND the race in his first Xfinity race (at Watkins Glen). The Trackhouse development driver will run a full Xfinity season this year at JR Motorsports. And he’ll make his Cup debut in a couple of weeks at COTA in a fourth Trackhouse car (non-chartered).
Connor Zilisch on learning ovals for upcoming races
3. Christian Eckes (age: 24; previous ranking: 5): Eckes won eight races — and had 25 top-5 finishes — in 46 starts the past two seasons in trucks. He moves to the Xfinity Series for Kaulig Racing this season.
4. Jesse Love (age: 20; previous ranking: 4): Love is back for his second Xfinity season at Richard Childress Racing. The 2024 rookie of the year in the series, Love notched one victory and challenged for several more. If he builds on last year, he’ll have a Cup ride in the next few years.
5. Brent Crews (age: 16; previous ranking: 6): Crews earned an ARCA national win at DuQuoin, was second at Mid-Ohio and fourth at Toledo. A Toyota development driver, he has nine ARCA races this year for Joe Gibbs Racing, select truck starts for Tricon and will race Trans Am for Nitro Motorsports. In 2023, he became the youngest champion and race winner in the Trans Am TA2.
6. Corey Day (age: 19; previous ranking: 12): Day signed with Hendrick Motorsports in December and will have a mix of Xfinity, trucks, ARCA and Trans Am this season. Oh, and dirt racing as well as some think he is the next coming of Kyle Larson. And they have good reason to think so.
7. Chandler Smith (age: 22; previous ranking: 3): Smith won three Xfinity races in the last two years, the first driving for Kaulig and the next driving for Joe Gibbs Racing. Despite an average finish of 10.3 last year, he had trouble landing funding. He has moved to the trucks this year at Front Row Motorsports, where he should contend for that title.
8. Carson Kvapil (age: 21; previous ranking: 10): Kvapil had three top-5 finishes in nine Xfinity starts last year, enough to earn a full-time ride for JR Motorsports this season. Kvapil won the 2022 and 2023 CARS Tour late model stock titles.
9. Nick Sanchez (age: 23; previous ranking: 8): Sanchez won two races and finished fifth in the truck standings last year driving for Spire Motorsports/Rev Racing. He moves to the Xfinity Series this year, replacing Parker Kligerman at Big Machine Racing.
10. Taylor Gray (age: 19; previous ranking: 9): Gray was sixth in the truck series standings with eight top-5s last year at Tricon. He moves to full-time Xfinity in 2025 with Joe Gibbs Racing. He posted two top-fives in 13 Xfinity starts last year for JGR.
11. William Sawalich (age: 18; previous ranking: 11): Now that he’s 18, Sawalich — the back-to-back ARCA East champion — can have a full national series season. He will run a full Xfinity year at Joe Gibbs Racing and select truck events at Tricon.
12. Sam Mayer (age: 21; previous ranking: 7): Mayer won seven Xfinity races in the last two years, making it to the Champ 4 in 2023 but missing out in 2024. He moves from JR Motorsports to Haas Factory Team for 2025. The big key for him will be after two years of averaging 13-14th in the series, his average finish last season of 18th was disappointing, even if it was the result of a series of wrecks.
13. Layne Riggs (age 22; previous ranking: 17): Riggs didn’t make the playoffs but then won the first two playoff races. Five of his 10 top-10s during the season came in the seven playoff races. Offseason shoulder surgery (remember when he dislocated it while celebrating at Milwaukee?) went well and he is ready for another season at Front Row Motorsports.
14. Rajah Caruth (age: 22; previous ranking: 16): Caruth won a race and finished seventh in the truck series. He’ll remain in the series for a third season at Spire Motorsports. He went from an average finish of 18.2 as a rookie to 11.6 last year. Having learned much of his initial racing craft online, Caruth is one of two full-time Black drivers in NASCAR national series competition.
‘There’s more to come’ — Rajah Caruth on winning his first career truck series
15. Tristan McKee (age: 14; previous ranking: NR): McKee already has signed a development contract with Spire Motorsports. He’s the youngest winner in CARS Tour history (at age 12) and already is part of the Josh Wise training program through Chevrolet. He will compete in 45 races this year across a variety of series (CARS Tour, ARCA, Trans Am).
16. Gio Ruggiero (age: 20; previous ranking: 20): Ruggiero finished third in the ARCA East standings (behind Sawalich and Zilisch) and had seven top-5 finishes in 10 ARCA national series starts. He will drive full time in the trucks for Tricon this year.
17. Kaden Honeycutt (age: 21; previous ranking: NR): Honeycutt won the 2024 CARS Tour pro late model title and also had two top-5s in 14 truck starts driving for Niece Motorsports. He will be full time at Niece this season.
18. Isabella Robusto (age: 20; previous ranking: 19): Robusto had two top-5s in five ARCA national series starts last year. She will run a full ARCA season for Venturini Motorsports this year.
19. Jade Avedisian (age: 18; previous ranking: 15): Avedisian began her move from dirt racing to asphalt last year. She won the Fall Brawl pro late model race at Hickory (N.C.) last season.
20. Brenden Queen (age 27: previous ranking: 18): Queen won the CARS Tour late model stock title last season and will have a full-time ARCA ride in 2025 with Pinnacle Racing Group. He’d be higher on this list based on accomplishments and his infectious personality, it’s just his age that is working against him.
25 more to watch: Tyler Ankrum, Gavan Boschele, Toni Breidinger, Lanie Buice, Sheldon Creed, Daniel Dye, Luke Fenhaus, Jake Finch, Jake Garcia, Tanner Gray, Keelan Harvick, Sean Hingorani, Buddy Kofoid, Caden Kvapil, Treyten Lapcevich, Landen Lewis, Andres Perez de Lara, George Phillips, Daison Pursley, Tyler Reif, Taylor Reimer, Parker Retzlaff, Lavar Scott, Sammy Smith, Dawson Sutton.
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and IndyCar for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
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