Alon Day has respectable showing in first NASCAR Cup practice

Alon Day knew making his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup debut on a road course would be the perfect place to do it considering his experience on those types of tracks. He backed that up on Friday.

Day closed the final practice session of the Toyota / Save Mart 350 just a little over one second behind points leader Kyle Larson. His time placed him in 23rd position out of the 38 cars that took time on Friday. 

“It was a fantastic first day at the office,” said Day, who quickly found his rhythm despite a fuel leak limiting his track time in the first practice session. “It is unbelievable to be so close to the top, especially knowing where we can gain some more time to possibly put the EarthWater Toyota even higher in the standings. The team has done an outstanding job and I am so excited to have this opportunity with EarthWater supporting me.”

The Israeli clocked his best lap time in 1:16.934 around the 10-turn, 3.2 km California road course which had him within one-half a second of finishing in the top-10 in practice times.

“My NASCAR experience on road courses I gained in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series is definitely paying off," said Day. "I was able to adapt pretty quickly to the Cup car and I found it so funny to drive. I’m having a blast. We will have just a couple of laps to do our best in qualifying and I hope to complete a clean run.”

The Tel-Aviv resident is not setting any specific goal for qualifying, but he’s confident there’s the potential for a very good race on Sunday in the Toyota / Save Mart 350.  Competing at the highest level in NASCAR is a unique accomplishment for Day, who took the wheel of a Cup car just 2 ½ years after his first NWES test, but once the green flag drops there will be no reverential fear.

Competing at the highest level in NASCAR is a unique accomplishment for Day, who took the wheel of a Cup car a little over just two years after his first NWES test session, but once the green flag drops there will be no reverential fear.

“Being here is a dream come true," he added. "I grew up playing NASCAR video games and just being here is incredible. It his historic for me, for Israel, for the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series, for everybody. It is an incredible experience and I can’t describe how exciting is to complete drive with so many great drivers. But in the end they are competitors and I can’t wait for the race to try to beat them!” concluded Day.

Click on images below to watch Alon Day during media availability on Friday at Sonoma Raceway.

 Here are some more comments from Alon Day's media availability at Sonoma.