Alon Day (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: אלון דאי, born November 4, 1991) is an Israeli professional

stock car racing Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It ori ...

driver. He currently competes in the

NASCAR Whelen Euro Series The NASCAR Whelen Euro Series (formerly known as Racecar Euro Series and Euro-Racecar NASCAR Touring Series) is an official NASCAR stock-car racing series based in Europe. It is one of NASCAR's three international-sanctioned series, alongside th ...

, driving the No. 24

Chevrolet SS The Holden Commodore (VF) is an executive car that was produced by Holden between June 2013 and October 2017. It was the second and last significantly restyled iteration of the fourth (and final) generation of the Holden Commodore to be manufa ...

for

PK Carsport Pekaracing NV, competing as PK Carsport, is a racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series as well as the Belcar Trophy in conjunction with Russell Racing. The team has previously competed in other series such as the FIA ...

and is a four-time champion in the series. Day is the first Israeli driver to compete in an

IndyCar INDYCAR, LLC, is an American-based auto racing sanctioning body for Indy car racing and other disciplines of open wheel car racing. The organization sanctions five racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with its centerpiece the Indianapolis ...

-sanctioned series, and is also the first Israeli to compete in one of

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

's top three touring series.

Early life

Day was born and grew up in

Ashdod Ashdod ( he, ''ʾašdōḏ''; ar, أسدود or إسدود ''ʾisdūd'' or '' ʾasdūd'' ; Philistine: 𐤀𐤔𐤃𐤃 *''ʾašdūd'') is the sixth-largest city in Israel. Located in the country's Southern District, it lies on the Mediterran ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, and currently resides in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

, Israel, and is

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. His father, Avi Day, owns a geological-engineering company involved in mineral drilling, and his mother Maggi originally immigrated to Israel from France. He began his racing career with

go-kart A go-kart, also written as go-cart (often referred to as simply a kart), is a type of sports car, close wheeled car, open-wheel car or quadracycle. Go-karts come in all shapes and forms, from non-motorised models to high-performance racing ...

s at the age of 10. For his bar mitzvah, his father gave him as a present a karting vehicle that cost

NIS Nis, Niš, NiS or NIS may refer to: Places * Niš, a city in Serbia * Nis, Iran, a village * Ness, Lewis ( gd, Nis, links=no), a village in the Outer Hebrides islands Businesses and organizations * Naftna Industrija Srbije, Petroleum Industry o ...

20,000. After high school, he performed three years of military service in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

(IDF). He was recognized by the IDF as an outstanding sportsman, the only Israeli in a Formula sport to be accorded that status. He was accepted into the

Israeli Air Force The Israeli Air Force (IAF; he, זְרוֹעַ הָאֲוִיר וְהֶחָלָל, Zroa HaAvir VeHahalal, tl, "Air and Space Arm", commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial warfare branch of the Israel Defense ...

pilots' training course, but gave it up because of his career. If he were not a racing car driver, he would want to be a

fighter pilot A fighter pilot is a military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, air-to-ground combat and sometimes electronic warfare while in the cockpit of a fighter aircraft. Fighter pilots undergo specialized training in aerial warfare and ...

Racing career

Day won the

Asian Formula Renault Challenge The Formula Renault AsiaCup (formerly known as the Asian Formula Renault Challenge and AFR Series) is a Formula Renault 2.0 championship held in Asia. The series debuted in 2002 and also held the ''China Formula Renault Challenge''. The series i ...

championship in 2009, when he was 17 years old. He then drove in the German Formula Three Championship in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, racing with the

Performance Racing Performance Racing is a Swedish racing team based in Great Britain, involved in many areas of motorsport. The team has been managed since 1999 by Bobby Issazadhe. History The Performance Racing business was founded in Sweden, in 1999, to co ...

team. He finished ninth in points, with a best finish of fourth (twice). He returned to the series in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

driving for HS Engineering. He improved to fourth in points and captured two podium finishes of third place. He also won the pole for the second race at

Sachsenring The Sachsenring () is a motorsport racing circuit located in Hohenstein-Ernstthal near Chemnitz in Saxony, Germany. Among other events, it features the annual German motorcycle Grand Prix of the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing world champ ...

. He made six starts in

Formula 3 Euro Series The Formula 3 Euro Series was a European-based junior single seater formula for Formula Three chassis that was launched (in its current form) in 2003 as a merger of the French Formula Three Championship and German Formula Three Championship. The ...

(two race meets –

Norisring The Norisring is a street circuit in Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as a motorcycle racing venue in 1947 and named in a 1950 competition to win a light motorcycle, the track became known as a sports car racing venue in the ...

and

Silverstone Circuit Silverstone Circuit is a motor racing circuit in England, near the Northamptonshire villages of Towcester, Silverstone and Whittlebury. It is the home of the British Grand Prix, which it first hosted as the 1948 British Grand Prix. The 1950 ...

) and drove in two races in

Austria Formula 3 Cup The Austria Formula 3 Cup is an open wheel racing series based in Austria. The series has run since 1982 and regular visits such circuits as the Salzburgring and the Red Bull Ring in Austria, the Autodrom Most and the Brno Circuit in the Czech R ...

, good enough for eighth in that championship. In

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

Day's career transitioned to North America, where he signed to drive in the

Firestone Indy Lights Indy NXT, previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as Firestone Indy NXT Series for sponsorship reasons. Indy Lights is the highest step on the Road to Indy, a progra ...

series with

Belardi Auto Racing Belardi Auto Racing was an American racing team in the Indy Lights series. The team was owned by Brian Belardi, who competed in SCCA. Belardi was previously located in Illinois before moving to Brownsburg, Indiana. Indy Lights 2011-2013 Jorge ...

. Day made six starts for the team before they amicably parted ways in June after qualifying at the

Iowa Speedway Iowa Speedway is a 7/8-mile (1.4 km) paved oval motor racing track in Newton, Iowa, United States, approximately east of Des Moines. It has over 25,000 permanent seats as well as a unique multi-tiered RV viewing area along the backstretc ...

. He was sponsored by the Jewish Racing Drivers Association. In 2015, he made his NASCAR debut in the season opener at

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

, posting a top-10 finish. He attained his first NASCAR win at

Magione Magione () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Perugia in the Italian region Umbria, located about 15 km west of Perugia. Magione borders the following municipalities: Castiglione del Lago, Corciano, Panicale, Passignano sul T ...

in the semifinals. At the

Circuit Zolder The Circuit Zolder, also known as Circuit Terlamen, is an undulating motorsport race track in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium. History Built in 1963, Zolder hosted the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix on 10 separate occasions in the 1970s and 1980s, a ...

Finals weekend, he won the Junior "Jerome Sarran" Trophy. He also won the 2015 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series Most Popular Driver Award. In 2016 Day won his fourth career NASCAR race in the opening weekend in Valencia, won the second race of the season at

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently host ...

, and at Zolder he won the Junior Trophy classification. He also won the 2016 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series Most Popular Driver Award. 13 Alon Day 2016 Road America 180

Also in 2016, Day was named one of the 11 members of the 2016–17

Next program, which recognizes young successful drivers from around the world who are seeking to improve. Day was the first driver of NASCAR's European circuit (the Whelen Euro Series) to earn the honor. In August, he joined

MBM Motorsports Motorsports Business Management LLC, operating as MBM Motorsports (and sometimes known as Carl Long Motorsports), is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series. M ...

for his

Xfinity Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

debut at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, making Day the first Israeli to compete in a major NASCAR touring series. The effort was supported by Jewish Sarasota, Florida, environmental/waterfront property lawyer David Levin, who provided Day with $60,000 from his retirement account to fund the car. After qualifying 22nd, Day capitalized on the rainy conditions to enter the top ten, where he ran for most of the race before finishing 13th. Day returned at

Road America Road America is a motorsport road course located near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, United States on Wisconsin Highway 67. It has hosted races since the 1950s and currently hosts races in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, WeatherTech SportsCar Champ ...

, driving the No. 13 for MBM and finishing 30th after he was forced off course late in the race. In September, Contreras Motorsports hired Day to make his

Camping World Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck based stock cars. The series is one of th ...

debut at the

New Hampshire Motor Speedway New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a Oval track racing, oval speedway located in Loudon, New Hampshire, which has hosted NASCAR racing annually since 1990, as well as the longest-running motorcycle race in North America, the Loudon Classic. Nickna ...

, in which he finished 24th. Alon Day Sonoma 2017

In January 2017, Day was recognized by Israel's Ministry Of Culture and Sport as Israel's Athlete Of The Year in the motorsports category. On June 11, Day won the NASCAR Whelen Euro race in England on June 11 at

. Later in June, Day joined

BK Racing BK Racing was an American professional stock car racing team that fielded entries in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series from 2012 to 2018. It most recently fielded the No. 23 Toyota Camry and Ford Fusion for J. J. Yeley, Gray Gaulding, and o ...

for his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series debut in

Sonoma Raceway Sonoma Raceway (originally known as Sears Point Raceway from 1967 to 1980 and 1982 to 2002, Golden State International Raceway in 1981 and Infineon Raceway from 2002 to 2012) is a road course and dragstrip located at Sears Point in the southe ...

Toyota/Save Mart 350 The Toyota/Save Mart 350 is a stock car racing event in the NASCAR Cup Series that has been held annually at Sonoma Raceway at Sears Point in Sonoma, California since 1989. The race has been known as the Toyota/Save Mart 350 since 2007. The r ...

, driving the No. 23

Toyota Camry The Toyota Camry (; Japanese: トヨタ・カムリ ''Toyota Kamuri'') is an automobile sold internationally by the Japanese auto manufacturer Toyota since 1982, spanning multiple generations. Originally compact in size (narrow-body), the Camry ...

. After starting 32nd, he finished in the same position. He became the first Israeli to compete in a Cup Series race. In mid-October, following a fourth-place finish at the second final of the NASCAR Whelen Euro race at

, he became the first Israeli driver to win a NASCAR championship, clinching the 2017 championship title after only completing just the first lap, finishing the final standings 53 points ahead of defending and two-time series champion

Anthony Kumpen Anthony Kumpen (born 3 November 1978) is a Belgian professional racing driver and team manager. Kumpen currently works as the team manager for PK Carsport in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series. He previously competed full-time in the NASCAR Whelen Euro ...

. On September 17, 2018, it was announced that Day would return to the NASCAR Cup Series driving the No. 23 Camry for

at Richmond. In the 2019 season, Day started his season strongly after he won both races at

Franciacorta The territory of Franciacorta, from Latin "franchae curtes", which means "exempted from paying duties", is a section of the Province of Brescia in the Italian Region of Lombardy. Franciacorta is known for its wine production and includes world-f ...

and the first race at

. However, he would retire from both races at

Most Most or Möst or ''variation'', may refer to: Places * Most, Kardzhali Province, a village in Bulgaria * Most (city), a city in the Czech Republic ** Most District, a district surrounding the city ** Most Basin, a lowland named after the city ** A ...

after he collided with

Jacques Villeneuve Jacques Joseph Charles Villeneuve ( born 9 April 1971) is a Canadian professional racing driver and amateur musician who won the 1997 Formula One World Championship with Williams. In addition to Formula One (F1) he has competed in various ot ...

in the first race and was involved in a first corner incident in the second race. Another troublesome week at

Hockenheim Hockenheim () is a town in northwest Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about 20 km south of Mannheim and 10 km west of Walldorf. It is located in the Upper Rhine valley on the tourist theme routes "Baden Asparagus Route" () and Bertha Benz M ...

would follow, where Day received a post-race time penalty for colliding with Stienes Longin in the first race before retiring from the lead in the second race. Day would eventually finish the season in fourth place with 3 wins, 6 podium finishes, and 9 Top-10 finishes. On October 4, 2020, Day won his first EuroNASCAR contest of the season at Zolder and also assumed the points lead.

Racing record

Career summary

Guest driver - Ineligible to score points.

Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) † As Day was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.

Indy Lights

Complete FIA GT Series results

NASCAR

(

) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. ** – All laps led.)

Monster Energy Cup Series

Xfinity Series

Camping World Truck Series

Season still in progress
Ineligible for series points

Whelen Euro Series – EuroNASCAR PRO

(

) (Bold – Pole position. ''Italics'' – Fastest lap. * – Most laps led. ^ – Most positions gained)

References

External links

* * *
Career statistics from Driver Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Day, Alon 1991 births Israeli Jews Jewish sportspeople Living people People from Ashdod Israeli racing drivers Formula BMW Pacific drivers German Formula Three Championship drivers FIA Institute Young Driver Excellence Academy drivers Formula 3 Euro Series drivers Indy Lights drivers Blancpain Endurance Series drivers NASCAR drivers Asian Formula Renault Challenge drivers ADAC GT Masters drivers Austrian Formula Three Championship drivers Asia Racing Team drivers Performance Racing drivers Belardi Auto Racing drivers Charouz Racing System drivers EuroInternational drivers