VALENCIA, Spain – It was a memorable day for Alon Day at Circuit Ricardo Tormo on Saturday.
The Israeli scored his 23rd NASCAR Whelen Euro Series victory to break Ander Vilarino’s all-time record and become the winningest driver in series history.
Even more important for him, the PK Carsport driver extended his EuroNASCAR PRO championship lead ahead of the Finals in Spain.
Day started from the pole, but lost the lead in the first few turns to his teammate Stienes Longin. The two had an intense and clean battle for several laps. Day saw his opportunity on lap 11 to grab the lead and built a gap on the Belgian’s No. 11 Chevrolet Camaro.
At the end of the 18-lap EuroNASCAR PRO race, Day was first under the checkered flag by 1.262 seconds.
“Two more to go,” said Day. “I’m so happy, especially after the small hit we got yesterday to our aircraft. I have a great team and a great teammate. I’m happy we kept it clean and we held all the other drivers behind us. It’s a great achievement for PK Carsport to score this 1-2 finish. Now it’s just two more to go.”
Longin had a solid pace in the closing stages of the race and cruised to a second place ahead of reigning series champion Loris Hezemans, who completed the podium. The No. 50 Hendriks Motorsport team was the most successful squad in the NASCAR GP Spain at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, but to defend his series championship, the Dutchman will have to give it his all in the final two double-points races of the season.
DF1 Racing’s Nicolo Rocca started eighth and fought his way up the ranks to fourth. Gianmarco Ercoli, who won the race in the Junior Trophy class, rounded out the top-five. Day’s closest chaser, Lasse Soerensen, was sixth after his phenomenal win on Friday.
Marc Goossens followed in seventh ahead of Thomas Ferrando. Lucas Lasserre was ninth ahead of Francesco Sini. Dario Caso grabbed the win in the Challenger Trophy classification in 12th ahead of Yevgen Sokolovskiy and Mauro Trione.
Day now leads the championship with a 14-point margin on Soerensen in second. The NASCAR Whelen Euro Series championship will be on the line in the EuroNASCAR Finals with two double-points races on Sunday.