In Israel, sport usually means soccer or basketball. Racing cars is the last thing on anyone’s mind. But the interests of a young Jewish boy who was born and grew up in Ashdod were different. Speed and motorsports were what he was all about. He went by the name of Alon Day and today he is a part of the NASCAR community as a part-time driver in the ARCA Menards Series.
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Day began racing go-karts at the age of 10 after his father gifted him a kart for his bar mitzvah. As the wheels of time turned, he was inducted into the Israeli Defense Forces after high school and into the Israeli Air Force training course later. But he gave up a career as a fighter pilot to race cars for a living. From 2009 to 2012, he won various racing accolades across Europe.
He won the Asian Formula Renault Challenge championship in 2009, drove for the German Formula Three championship in 2010, and made multiple starts in the Formula 3 Euro Series. Following this, he moved to North America in 2012 to drive in the Indy Light Series for Belardi Auto Racing.
He spoke about this transition to Frontstretch, “It was absolutely the first time [I raced in America]. I came over from Formula 3, which is super big in Europe. I wanted to move forward. Unfortunately, Europe is kind of a boring place for motor sports. America is making everything much more entertaining and fun. That was one of the parts of the decision that I made.”
Day made his NASCAR debut in 2015 in the Whelen Euro Series in Valencia. When the season ended, he had an impressive average of 7.67 after 12 races. He ended up as the runner-up and proved why he was going to fit right in the world of stock car racing. In 2016, he made his first Xfinity Series start for MBM Motorsports and finished in 13th place.
In 2017, he drove for BK Racing at the Sonoma Raceway in the Cup Series, and in 2018, he drove at Richmond. His most recent appearances in one of the top three series came in 2024. He nearly started in the Xfinity Series Loop 110 before he crashed his car in the qualifying session. He made up for the missed start by starting at Watkins Glen a few weeks later.
Day is a four-time NASCAR Whelen Euro Series champion. He earned the title in 2017, 2018, 2020, and 2022. At 33 years of age, he still has a good number of years left ahead of him. Perhaps more stints in the Cup Series and the Xfinity Series await him. Regardless of that, he will always have the honor of being his nation’s first professional NASCAR driver.
