The #40 driver Alon Day placed 13th at the Mid-Ohio Challenge in just his first race in the United States! He’s got one more race coming up at Road America in Wisconsin Saturday August 27th. Here’s just some of the background on Alon’s amazing story.

Believe it or not, stock car racing, and more specifically, NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Racing) racing is the #2 watched televised sport behind professional football. It has been shown that 40% of NASCAR’s viewers have children under the age of 18.

While other televised sports may have a few Jewish athletes, at its elite levels, Sprint Cup and Xfinity Series, NASCAR has never had a Jewish driver.

Recently, I was inspired to do something about that. I have found an excellent candidate and a race team willing to give him a chance. Alon Day is a 24 year old native of Israel. He has an impressive record on NASCAR’s European Circuit.

He was named Rookie of the Year and has been named Israel’s Sportsman of the Year. In May of this year, Alon was selected as one of eleven young drivers to participate in the NASCAR Next program, a program wherein NASCAR features this year’s upcoming stars of the sport.

Graphic by DK Kilgore

It takes a lot of money to field a competitive race car and support crew. In NASCAR, unlike most other professional sports teams, it is primarily the driver’s responsibility to raise the funds necessary to compete. Such funds come from businesses, organizations and individuals who buy “advertising” space on the driver’s race car and uniform.

I am not a professional fundraiser, but I am a friend and advisor to Alon Day. I have made a commitment to Alon to secure for him sufficient funds from sponsors to allow him to showcase his talents as a NASCAR driver.

While NASCAR has been bending over backwards to provide whatever non-financial support they can offer to help Alon, the same cannot be said for the companies who are owned by or cater to the Jewish Community, or claim to be friends of Israel.

A large part of the problem may be that without a Jewish/Israeli driver, NASCAR is viewed as a sport without Jewish fans.  NASCAR is no longer just a southern sport. Three of the top five NASCAR markets are Los Angeles, New York and Chicago. 58% of fans do not live in the “south”.

Alon’s debut race in NASCAR’s XFINITY series went wonderfully on August 13th at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.  His 13th place finish in tough rainy conditions announced his presence to the world.

He is scheduled to follow that race with another on August 27th at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, and five more races until the end of the 2016 season in November.

In order to make sure that Alon can get on the track and show what he can do, I have personally guaranteed the minimum required funds from my retirement account.

My request for $75,000 hopefully will allow Alon to keep racing until businesses are willing to buy advertising on Alon’s car and uniform to fund his career. Without such financial support, Alon’s NASCAR career will be short lived.

The GoFundMe Page for Alon Day

USA Today Article on Alon Day’s Journey

Nascar’s Summary of Alon Day’s 1st Race

Facebook Page for Road America for Alon Day’s 2nd Race

David M. Levin is a Shareholder of the Icard/Merrill law firm. His practice is concentrated in the area of environmental and waterfront property law.