Alexander Graff won his maiden EuroNASCAR PRO race in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series at a scorching Brands Hatch American SpeedFest this afternoon (Saturday). The Swede prevailed in a dramatic race which saw early race leader Alon Day and Gianmarco Ercoli clash whilst fighting for first position.
Day held position at the head of the field in the initial stages of the race after starting from pole position and to start with it appeared the Israeli three-time champion would build a comfortable gap. The race was neutralised by the safety car following an incident involving Aliyyah Koloc on lap eight though, and this proved to be a crucial moment in the race.
Upon the race's resumption, Ercoli produced a great launch from second to move ahead of Day and seemingly take the lead of the race. Day fought back as they drove up the hill towards Druids though and attempted to regain his advantage, but the Italian held firm and the pair made contact.
Ercoli's bid for victory was ended almost immediately as his damaged car began to sink down the order whilst Day re-took the lead on the Cooper Straight. Ercoli then made contact with Thomas Krasonis at Clearways, ending his race and summoning the safety car for the second time.
Day led once more when the race returned to green running, but he was quickly forced to dive to the pit lane following his penalisation with a drive-through penalty for the contact with Ercoli. This allowed Graff to take over as the race leader, with pressure from Giorgio Maggi behind.
Graff held on to the flag to claim his first victory in the premier EuroNASCAR class though, also securing a maiden podium-topping performance for his Speedhouse team. Martin Doubek completed the rostrum, whilst Nicolo Rocca's fourth place was enough for him to reclaim the overall lead of the championship from Day, who wound up 16th.
NASCAR Whelen Euro Series, EuroNASCAR PRO Sunday, Race Result
1. Alexander Graff, Ford Mustang, 36 laps
2. Giorgio Maggi, Toyota Camry, +0.225s
3. Martin Doubek, Ford Mustang, +0.821s
4. Nicolo Rocca, Ford Mustang, +1.089s
5. Frederic Gabillon, Chevrolet Camaro, +1.657s
Click here to view all of the EuroNASCAR PRO and EuroNASCAR 2 results from Brands Hatch this weekend at American SpeedFest 9.
Sunday's EuroNASCAR race was preceded by an opening ceremony including driver introductions and a trumpet rendition of The Star Spangled Banner. There were four NASCAR Whelen Euro Series races across the two days as has been the case at American SpeedFest since the event made its debut on the Indy circuit back in 2013.
Other highlights around the venue included Monster Mayhem, which made its event debut in the new SpeedFest Arena this weekend. This was a four-way Showdown between some ot the UK's leading monster trucks - Swamp Thing, Grim Reaper, Big Pete and Pandamonium. The popular shows drew a crowd all weekend long, with many sticking around to enjoy gymkhana precision driving shows between Monster Mayhem sessions.
On top of all that, SpeedFest's traditional US-flavour returned throughout the venue as the event took place in front of a full crowd for the first time since 2019. This included hundreds of display cars, activities for the kids and themed food and drink.