Alon Day (#54 CAAL Racing Chevrolet SS) won a terrific battle under the rain with Frederic Gabillon (#3 Tepac RDV Compétition Ford Mustang) for the ELITE 1 Race 2 at Brands Hatch, out-dragging the Frenchman to the line at the end of a spectacular last lap.
“That was such a great finish! I didn’t know exactly what to expect before the race. It was my first NASCAR race with wet tires. I drove as hard as i could, but Fred was always right there, putting pressure on me all race long,” said Day. “I am really happy! This is my first win at the historic Brand Hatch. I want to thank all the fans for coming out this weekend, my outstanding team CAAL Racing for doing such a great job and all my sponsors for making this possible. I’m really looking forward to the next race. I have to think about the championship now.”
The Israeli started from the pole and led from flag to flag to score his second win of the season, the fifth of his NASCAR career, by a mere .132 seconds in front of a massive international crowd in the context of the fourth edition of the American SpeedFest.
This is the third win by a NASCAR Next alumni this weekend after William Byron won the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway and Daniel Suarez won the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Michigan International Speedway. Day also grabbed the first ever win in Europe and the first under the rain for a NASCAR Next driver.
Gabillon constantly kept Day under pressure for the entire race and finally made his move when he got a run exiting the last corner of the final lap. He looked on the inside and the two went side by side towards the checkered flag among a roaring crowd. Day edged Gabillon by a half-car length in a commanding performance, relegating the Frenchman to his fourth second place finish of the season.
“My car was very fast, even if had a little bit of oversteer. I was able to save my tires and I was faster than Alon in the final laps. It was a really good race and very challenging because of the wet track. In the last turn I was able to get to his inside but in the we came up a little short. It’s still a good result for the team,” said Gabillon.
In what was his first wet race in NASCAR Whelen Euro Series, Marc Goossens (#90 Brass Racing Ford Mustang) gave Brass Racing his first ever podium finish at the end of a strong performance, while Borja Garcia (#1 SPV Racing Ford Mustang) ended up fourth after a fantastic start from the seventh place on the grid. Wilfried Boucenna (#73 Knauf Racing Team Ford Mustang) came from ninth to fifth to round out the top-5.
Nicolò Rocca (#56 CAAL Racing Chevrolet SS), Thomas Ferrando (#37 Knauf Racing Team Ford Mustang), Freddy Nordstrom (#44 CAAL Racing Chevrolet SS), Gianmarco Ercoli (#9 Double-T by Nocentini Ford Mustang) and Anthony Kumpen (#24 PK Carsport Chevrolet SS) completed the top-10. Kumpen, the points leader, lost a bunch of positions in two occasions during the race but was able to climb back up to tenth and defend his lead in the Championship standings. He leaves Brands Hatch with a mere 6-points lead over Gabillon. Garcia is 8 further points back and Day reduced his gap from the top to 24 points before the final regular season race at Tours Speedway on June 25-26.
