Is Corey Day ready for jump to NASCAR Cup Series? Denny Hamlin weighs in

NASCAR silly season is kicking into high gear as the results from the 2026 campaigns at the various levels continue to flow in. Could Corey Day be in line for a jump up to the Cup Series next season?

That’s a suggestion that was floated by spotter Freddie Kraft on the Door Bumper Clear podcast last week, with Kraft saying there are “serious conversations” about such a move, specifically linked to the No. 48 car of Alex Bowman. The Athletic’s Jordan Bianchi backed that up with an in-depth look at the early silly season rumblings.

On Monday, Denny Hamlin chimed in on the Corey Day rumors on the Actions Detrimental podcast. Day is fresh off a win at Dover, his second of the season in the O’Reilly series.

“I don’t know if y’all are looking at the rumor mill, but he’s starting to make things a little interesting,” Hamlin said. “I don’t know (if it’s legitimate), I don’t know. I truthfully don’t know. I’m not just blowing smoke to not get in the middle of it. But I don’t know. He’s very young, man. It would be … the leap from Saturday to Sunday is a big one.”

That said, Hamlin admitted there’s an argument to be made for getting Corey Day to the Cup level sooner than later. After all, Day sits fourth in the O’Reilly points standings, having secured two wins, five top-five finishes and 10 top-10 results.

“Sometimes there’s something to be said about just the sooner you rip off the Band-Aid, the quicker you’ll get to the result that you’re wanting,” Hamlin said. “Yeah, you’re going to struggle for a little while, but you either struggle now or you struggle later. But you all struggle when it’s your first year.”

The real question is whether Corey Day is ready for the jump. It’s a different car at the Cup level, and there’s not necessarily a ton of carry-over.

So while he’s doing well at the O’Reilly level, the question of how much would translate is a legitimate one. Connor Zilisch, for example, is struggling mightily in Cup this year after dominating the O’Reilly a year ago.

Hamlin, though, is a believer in Corey Day. Or at least in what he’s capable of.

“I can tell you this, though, and I said this after his … wasn’t after his win, his Talladega win, because even he was was like, ‘Ah, really wanted to win on a different type of track,'” Hamlin said. “We’ve just seen this, that like he started the year off and we were the critics saying, ‘Man, I just don’t know about this experiment. It just doesn’t seem like he’s getting it. He’s not fast and he’s wrecking. That’s two. You can’t do both.’ And then something clicked.

“It’s interesting. Didn’t he have a sit-down or something with Jr. or Rick Hendrick? I think there was one. I think there was a sit-down with Rick Hendrick, and I could be wrong, but it seemed like from that point on he’s performing like somebody that’s aspiring to race on Sunday. And he’s doing a hell of a job. An absolute hell of a job.”

Hamlin offered some real praise for Corey Day as he concluded the segment on the podcast. And that’s saying something.

“He’s going to have a really, really fast car,” Hamlin said. “But he’s — as a driver/analyst I can see enough when I watch in person and when I watch on TV — he’s able to make moves that I know is very difficult. That’s how you know that, hmm, yeah, the ceiling is there.”