The Gold Cup Race of Champions has often been called the Knoxville of the West. The event, in its 71st year, is as big as it gets for West Coast sprint car racing. The winner’s list is splattered with names like Steve Kinser, Sammy Swindell, Doug Wolfgang, Donny Schatz, and Jac Haudenschild. Not to mention the slew of current-generation stars like Kyle Larson, Rico Abreau and, most recently, Corey Day.

Day, who is just nineteen, came into Saturday’s feature as the defending winner of the last two Gold Cups. To put that into perspective, of the 43 different winners in this event’s history, only thirteen have won more than once, and only one guy, the legendary Seve Kinser, has ever won three-straight. Pay attention to the past tense on that, it’s going to be important.

Day started on the pole by virtue of his strong performance during his qualifying night on Thursday, but Justin Sanders and Brad Sweet were able to get around him early. But, once things got rolling, the 14 was able to make his way back forward, reclaiming the lead from Sanders on lap 22. Sanders kept Day honest from there, often just about a half-car length off the bumper of the Jason Meyers Racing machine, but in the end, it would be Day picking up his record-tying third straight Gold Cup and a cool $100k to boot. Sanders and Brad Sweet would round out the podium.

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