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Alon Day Seeks NASCAR Return At Daytona Road Course, Charlotte Roval

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The clock is ticking as Alon Day attempts to sign sponsors for the NASCAR Cup Series race at the Daytona International Speedway road course. The deadline for a last-minute deal is rapidly approaching for David Levin, Day’s American manager based out of Florida.

There is at least one team interested in signing NASCAR’s only driver from Israel, but in order to race, a chunk of sponsorship dollars is required. Plus, Day needs to travel from his homeland to America for the event, a challenge in of itself during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Daytona is something I’ve always thought about,” Day said while quarantining in Bulgaria. “It would be special to participate in the first NASCAR event at the road course.”

The rate sponsors need to pay, due to teams not entertaining sponsors in person, is actually significantly lower than it usually would be. The focus on air time is the key to sponsorship deals in NASCAR as fans are only allowed to visit a handful of tracks, based on how individual states are handling the pandemic.

Day is set to compete for the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series championship. This is the first year Monster Energy is sponsoring the Israeli star, who signed with the Belgium-based PK Carsport. When the season takes the green flag for the first time on Sept. 12 in Italy, he’ll begin the chase for his third championship in four years.

Even while competing for the Whelen Euro Series title, Day is determined to make a return to American stock car racing. He is ready to prove what he can do behind the wheel.

“It will be challenging to jump in the Cup car after so long, but I’m up for the challenge,” Day said.

If Day cannot put together a last-minute deal for the Go Bowling 235 at Daytona on Aug. 16, the focus will shift over to finding a sponsor for the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval. The Bank of America Roval 400 is set for Oct. 11, which will be perfect for Day since the Whelen Euro Series is not competing that weekend.

His quarantine in Bulgaria ends on Aug. 11, which means he could fly to America in time for the race at Daytona. He cannot go back to Israel, though, after the race because the Israeli government has a mandated two-week quarantine when arriving in Tel Aviv. Throughout the Whelen Euro Series, he will live in Belgium, which will make the potential flight to America less stressful.

One major advantage Day might have on the track is NASCAR’s lack of practice and qualifying. If he can sign a sponsor, he will likely have an upper hand given his ability to succeed on a road course. The ability to adapt to different types of racetracks rather quickly is one of the reasons why he is so determined to compete in at least one of the two road courses.

“Every road course driver will have a huge advantage,” he said. “It’s not like me going to a track where everybody knows what to do. At Daytona, no one will know what to do. It will give me an equal starting point compared to them.”

It is unclear if Day will require additional precautions other than NASCAR’s Covid-19 protocols should he sign a deal for a NASCAR Cup Series race. Drivers are currently not allowed to go in the garage area prior to a race, and they must report only to pit road shortly before the scheduled start time. So if he gets a deal together, the first time he’ll even see the car he would race is on pit road just moments before the green flag.

However, it is a challenge he is looking for to, should he get such an opportunity to do so. Canada’s Alex Labbe is doing something similar, quarantining in between Xfinity Series races and only showing up at the racetrack.

While some states are requiring international travelers to quarantine for two weeks upon arrival, Day can avoid that when he lands in America, likely landing in Miami. However, he will need to quarantine for two weeks if he heads straight back to Israel, which could be an issue for the Euro Series season if he secures a ride for the Charlotte race since there is a scheduled for Oct. 17 in Germany.

Day is widely known in the NASCAR world for bringing an old, rundown Dodge Challenger into the top five during 2016’s Xfinity Series race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. That weekend, he had limited practice, never saw the track before and took advantage of poor track conditions in the rain to finish 13th.

The successful weekend eventually led Day to make his debut in NASCAR’s premier series a year later. He signed a single-race deal with Earthwater at Sonoma Raceway with BK Racing. Day finished 32nd that afternoon, but it actually led to a multi-race sponsorship for the organization, stretching into 2018.

Day ran one more Cup Series race in 2018 for BK Racing after Bob Jenkins started to run the team. But it was at Richmond Raceway, an oval track, which is not his expertise. Since finishing 38th in that race, Day is still searching for his return to American motor sports.

Day is particularly excited about the impact rain could have on a Cup Series race at one of the road courses. With no on-track time prior to the event, he would automatically be a pre-race favorite no matter what team he’s driving for because he would be one of a handful of drivers who has experience racing in the rain.

“If there’s rain at Daytona, that would be amazing,” Day said. “That would be the perfect situation for me.”

If Day can put a deal in place, not only will his presence spark a boost in interest from NASCAR’s international audience, but it can also give him a chance to be the first successful road course “ringer” in several years.

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