MOST, Czech Republic – Reigning NASCAR Whelen Euro Series champion Alon Day overcame two incidents during a wild race to earn his second victory of the season in EuroNASCAR Pro Saturday at Autodrom Most.
The Israeli took over the lead after the last brave drivers on slicks came down to pit lane to mount rain tires and survived a late restart to defend his lead and speed to victory for CAAL Racing.
The winningest driver in EuroNASCAR history was involved in a chaotic first lap incident with Andrea Nori, who tapped the back of Vittorio Ghirelli. Day fell out of the top-10, but immediately started to gain ground again. At that point, rain started to fall and Loris Hezemans took the lead. While some drivers opted to come into the pit early, Hezemans, Sebastiaan Bleekemolen, Jacques Villeneuve, Nori, Romain Iannetta and Henri Tuomaala tried to survive on slick tires as long as possible.
Iannetta took the lead but got off track in the downpour and was overtaken by Villeneuve, who was also involved in a first lap incident with Giorgio Maggi in which both went off track. Just right before the safety car was deployed due Francesco Sini’s car being stuck in the gravel, the former F-1 champion also came to pit road to mount rain tires.
At that point Day, who was involved in another accident over the course of the race, took over the lead and brought home a surprising win for CAAL Racing. After Brands Hatch, it was the second victory for Day, who added Autodrom Most to the list of tracks he took a win at. The last time out in 2019, the Israeli wasn’t able to finish a single race of the NASCAR GP Czech Republic.
“I really don’t know what happened in the first lap,” said Day. “I saw that Villeneuve was tapped and then I got bumped from behind and just spun. Being able to overcome that is just amazing. Immediately when the rain started to fall, the CAAL Racing guys did an amazing job. They mounted the rain tires and that’s why the win belongs to them! I was just a passenger and the conditions were extremely hard as the rain fell down so hard. I thank CAAL Racing, Monster Energy and everybody at home as well as the track watching. I bet it was a spectacular race for all of you.”
Day’s teammate Gianmarco Ercoli finished second at the wheel of his No. 54 Chevrolet Camaro to complete a CAAL Racing 1-2. The Italian not only topped the Junior Trophy classification but also shortened the gap on championship leader Hezemans, who was eighth under the checkered flag. DF1 Racing’s Marc Goossens, who started from 19th on the grid, stormed to his first podium of the NWES season. The Belgian bested reigning EuroNASCAR 2 champion Vittorio Ghirelli and his teammate Nicolo Rocca, who rounded out the top-five.