Alon Day maximized his NASCAR Xfinity Series opportunity with Sam Hunt Racing by qualifying sixth and finishing 20th in the race at Portland.
NASCAR Euro Series legend Alon Day showed the American fans what the European talents are capable of when he got himself a chance to race with Sam Hunt Racing at Portland International Raceway last week.
Day secured his SHR ride for the Pacific Office Automation 147 back in July. He previously impressed with Venturini Motorsports in the ARCA Menards Series, securing top-3 finishes in both Lime Rock and Sonoma.
The jump to SHR is a big step forward for the Israeli, whose last Xfinity appearance came in the form of a DNQ with Alpha Prime Racing at Chicago in 2024.
Day maximized his opportunity right from the start. The four-time EuroNASCAR champion shockingly topped the first Qualifying group, beating experienced drivers such as the 2024 V8 Supercars champion Will Brown.
Such was Day’s pace that he ended up as one of the only three drivers from that group – Nick Sanchez and Jack Perkins were the others – to make it to Q2 and therefore the shootout for pole position.
A time of 1:13.945 in Q2 is enough to slot Day in sixth position. His time was only half a second slower than wonderkid Connor Zilisch, who was the pre-race favorites in spite of his recent collarbone injury.
Day continued to fight hard during the race. While Day doesn’t have the pace to keep up with the fastest drivers like Zilisch, he still found himself inside the top-20 for the majority of the race.
In the end, 20th place is exactly where Day finished at the checkered flag. Day could’ve finished better as he started the Overtime restart in 13th position.
Unfortunately, the chaos at the chicane badly affected the Israeli driver. Sammy Smith’s spin from contact with Sanchez forced Day to go the long way around, costing Day a lot of time and position in the two-lap dash.
Day also competed in the ARCA race at Portland, having secured enough funds for one more ride with Venturini. He finished on the podium once again, only behind William Sawalich and Thomas Annunziata.
“It was a very successful weekend for me,” said Day to EuroNASCAR’s media team. “I managed to qualify sixth in Xfinity and a third place finish in ARCA, which was a huge achievement. That showed our real potential, even if the race was extremely chaotic.”
As things stand, the Portland weekend is scheduled to be Day’s final American appearance in 2025. Day is expected to join PK Carsport back again in Oschersleben to coach his protege Thomas Krasonis, who swept the weekend in EuroNASCAR OPEN at Most.
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