Blaise Alexander

Blaise Robert Alexander Jr. (March 26, 1976 – October 4, 2001) was an American professional stock car racer from Montoursville, Pennsylvania. He began racing at the age of twelve in go-karts, winning the coveted World Karting Association East Regional championship in 1992. In 1995, he moved south to Mooresville, North Carolina, and drove in the ARCA Racing Series. Named ARCA's rookie of the year in 1996, Alexander was a regular driver in that series while also driving in both the NASCAR Busch Series and Craftsman Truck Series.

On October 4, 2001, during the ARCA EasyCare 100 at Lowe's Motor Speedway, Alexander's car crashed into the outside retaining wall nearly head-on. He died from a basilar skull fracture, the fifth driver death from rapid-deceleration head-and-neck movements in 17 months, convincing NASCAR to mandate the HANS or Hutchens devices for all drivers, despite the accident happening in ARCA.

Early life Alexander was born on March 26, 1976, in Montoursville, Pennsylvania. He began his stock car career at the age of twelve in the World Karting Association and was the champion of the East Series in 1992. From that point, Alexander moved onto the Micro-Sprint racing series at tracks in different states including Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New York, posting a total of 48 wins in the series. In 1995, Alexander moved from Montoursville to Mooresville, North Carolina, to pursue a racing career.

Racing career

ARCA Alexander drove a few races in the ARCA Re-Max Series in 1995. With a full season in 1996, Alexander won ARCA's Rookie of the Year Award. During his 1996 rookie season, Alexander pulled off a second-place finish at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Alexander achieved two more second-place finishes in 1997. Alexander won his first ARCA race in 1999 at Toledo Speedway and won a second race the same year at Pocono Raceway. He led in eighteen ARCA races for a total of 490 laps led. Alexander's final win came in July 2001, at Michigan International Speedway. Alexander earned a total of four career pole awards, in races at Michigan, Watkins Glen, Toledo and Winchester.

NASCAR In 1997, still running fifteen races in ARCA, Alexander began driving in NASCAR in the Busch Series and the Craftsman Truck Series. He only raced twice in the truck series, and had modest success in Busch. Alexander signed to run for Team SABCO during the 2000 Busch season, posting two top-ten finishes and finishing 25th in points. After that year, he decided to return to the ARCA series in 2001.

Death At the EasyCare 100 at Lowe's Motor Speedway on October 4, 2001, Alexander was involved in a two-car accident during lap 63 of the race. He was fighting for the lead position with Kerry Earnhardt for most of the race. During the lap, Earnhardt had to dodge a lapped car by hitting his brakes, which caused Alexander's No. 75 to catch up to Earnhardt's No. 2. Alexander began to inch into the lead when Earnhardt's car made contact with Alexander's, sending Alexander's car head-on into the wall and then back into Earnhardt's car, causing Earnhardt to flip over onto his roof and slide into the grass. After the wreck, Earnhardt got away unharmed, while Alexander was knocked unconscious. Alexander was interred at the Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in his hometown of Montoursville, Pennsylvania.

Aftermath Alexander's death, caused by a basilar skull fracture sustained in the impact, was the sixth in two years. Other high-profile drivers killed in this period included Dale Earnhardt (Kerry Earnhardt's father, who was killed in February that same year), Adam Petty, Kenny Irwin Jr. and Tony Roper. As a result of Alexander's crash, NASCAR announced that the use of head and neck restraint devices would be required to keep drivers safe from these types of injuries, caused by rapid deceleration in wrecks. The use of such devices had been optional up until Alexander's death, though 41 out of 43 drivers in NASCAR's top series were already using them; only Tony Stewart and Jimmy Spencer had not worn them yet.

In response to these deaths, NASCAR eventually installed SAFER barriers on all NASCAR oval tracks. As of 2015, most tracks have the exterior walls covered with the barriers.

Legacy

After his 1995 move to North Carolina, Alexander enjoyed a close friendship with fellow Busch rookie driver and eventual NASCAR superstar, Jimmie Johnson, as they competed against each other on the track, while supporting each other off it. Other close relations included Spencer, a fellow Pennsylvanian who served as his mentor, and IndyCar driver P. J. Jones.

Alexander's memory has been honored by Johnson in several public and private ways. He dedicated his first Cup win to Alexander during a televised interview in Victory Lane, sent condolences in a Victory Lane interview after the death of Alexander's mother, and supported various charity causes and events that Alexander initiated in his hometown area of Central Pennsylvania. Shortly after Alexander's death, one of Johnson's crewmen drew a flame pattern with Alexander's initials on his driver's front left bumper; the tribute was continued in the form of a decal on Johnson's Cup cars. There are quite a few Blaise Alexander automotive dealerships in Central Pennsylvania originally created from his family.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series NASCAR Winston Cup Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 Pts Ref 2000 LJ Racing 91 Chevy DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX MAR TAL CAL RCH CLT DOV MCH POC SON DAY NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH NHA DOV MAR CLT TALDNQ CAR PHO HOM ATLDNQ NA -

Busch Series NASCAR Busch Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 Pts Ref 1997 Keystone Motorsports 20 Chevy DAY CAR RCH ATL LVS DAR HCY TEX BRI NSV TAL NHA NZH CLT DOV SBO GLN MLW MYB GTY IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT CAL20 CAR24 77th 194 Key Motorsports 11 Chevy HOMDNQ 1998 Keystone Motorsports 20 Chevy DAYDNQ CAR23 LVS25 NSV21 DAR12 BRI35 TEX33 HCYDNQ TAL14 NHA26 NZH38 CLTDNQ DOV38 RCHDNQ PPR27 GLN43 MLW27 MYBDNQ CAL35 SBO IRP MCH20 BRI41 DAR37 RCH42 DOV26 CLT40 GTY33 CAR31 ATL39 HOM23 32nd 1730 1999 Blaise Alexander Racing DAYDNQ CAR LVS ATL DAR TEX NSV BRI TAL CAL NHA RCH NZH CLT24 DOV SBO GLN MLW MYB PPR GTY IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV 91st 158 Sterling Marlin Racing 14 Chevy CLT32 CAR MEM PHO HOM 2000 SABCO Racing 81 Chevy DAYDNQ CAR30 LVS21 ATL7 DAR28 BRI23 TEX18 NSV28 TAL30 CAL38 RCH31 NHA40 CLT10 DOV31 SBO27 MYB34 GLN13 MLW18 NZH26 PPR22 GTY35 IRP16 MCH39 BRI41 DAR35 RCH18 DOV21 CLT30 CAR34 MEM31 PHO38 HOM28 25th 2540 2001 HighLine Performance Group 8 Chevy DAY30 CAR16 LVS43 ATL12 DAR BRI TEX NSH TAL CAL RCH NHA NZH CLT DOV KEN MLW GLN CHI GTY PPR IRP 54th 558 Carroll Racing 08 Chevy MCH11 BRI DAR RCH DOV28 KAN CLT MEM PHO CAR HOM

Craftsman Truck Series NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Pts Ref 1997 Blaise Alexander Racing 62 Chevy WDW TUS HOMDNQ PHO POR EVG I70 NHA TEX BRI14 NZH MLW LVL CNS HPT IRP FLM NSVDNQ GLN9 RCH MARDNQ SON MMR CAL PHO LVS 53rd 373

ARCA Re/Max Series (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.) ARCA Re/Max Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Pts Ref 1995 Blaise Alexander Racing 26 Chevy DAY12 ATL TAL13 FIF KIL FRS MCH I80 MCS FRS POC5 POC33 KIL FRS SBS LVL ISF DSF SLM WIN ATL8 33rd 1045 1996 DAY27 ATL7 SLM9 TAL15 FIF7 LVL15 CLT2 CLT25 KIL3 FRS5 POC23 MCH6 FRS20 TOL11 POC4 MCH20 INF17 SBS3 ISF28 DSF27 KIL18 SLM3 WIN8 CLT35 ATL33 5th 5325 1997 DAY37 ATL17 SLM22 CLT39 CLT24 POC30 MCH6 SBS TOL2 KIL2 FRS MIN2 POC3 MCH7 DSF GTW6 SLM6 WIN CLT34 TAL ISF ATL 9th 2655 1998 Keystone Motorsports 20 Chevy DAY35 ATL SLM CLT MEM MCH NA 0 Mike Brandt 66 Ford POC9 SBS TOL PPR POC KIL FRS ISF ATL DSF SLM TEX WIN CLT TAL ATL 1999 Baltes Racing 18 Chevy DAY ATL3 SLM 16th 2330 Blaise Alexander Racing 97 Chevy AND3 CLT14 MCH2 POC11 TOL1 SBS25 BLN POC1* KIL FRS FLM9 ISF WIN2 DSF SLM CLT4 TAL ATL26 2001 LJ Racing 91 Chevy DAY8 NSH 23rd 1820 Gerhart Racing 7 Pontiac WIN28 LJ Racing 91 Pontiac SLM6 GTY KEN CLT KAN MCH6 POC9 MEM GLN2 KEN POC2 NSH ISF CHI DSF SLM TOL BLN Bob Schacht Motorsports 75 Pontiac MCH1 CLT2 TAL ATL