Blaise Alexander Tribute

March 26, 1976-October 4, 2001

I followed Blaise since I began watching racing when I was 12. I was fortunate to have known the 1996 ARCA Rookie of the Year, a little bit. I first met him in 1998 when he was driving the #20 Rescue Engine Treatment Ford in the Busch Series for friend and mentor Jimmy Spencer and his Dad Blaise L. Alexander. We had a good chat and I got to know him. I was real lucky to see him win the ARCA race in 1999 at Pocono, his and my home track, in his own car with a loaned engine from Felix Sabates, of SABCO. Then in 2000 he got a full time BGN ride with SABCO with WCW/Tracfone sponsorship. The stats don't really show how good he did. I was able to see Blaise run at his and my other home track, Nazareth and he drove to a hard earned 26th spot. For 2001 he ran limited Busch for High Line Performance Racing but left the team, his best finish was 11th at Michigan. He then went back to his own ARCA team again where he ran a limited schedule with the #75 and #91 with Sponsorship from various PA sponsors such as, Middleswarth Potato Chips, Central PA Auto Auction, and Lisa Express trucking. Blaise won poles at Watkins Glen and July Michigan. Blaise won the July race at Michigan, and finished 2nd at Watkins Glen. He should have won that race but ARCA rules about cautions and a troubled transmission prevented that. In 9 starts he made he had 1 win, 4 top 5's, and 8 top 10's. That consistency led him to sign on for a Busch ride with Carroll Racing in 2002 to be Bobby Hamilton Jr's teammate, however fate allowed this not to be. I was lucky to be able to see Blaise finish 9th and 2nd at the 2002 Pocono ARCA races. Then on that Thursday October 4th night after Winston Cup qualifying, where Jimmy Spencer took the pole and best friend Jimmie Johnson qualified 15th for his first cup race ever, everything changed. I remember being disappointed knowing the ARCA race was running but nobody on TV was covering it. Well I guess that was a good thing, maybe it was the man upstairs who did that for me so I wouldn't have gone to bed with such pain knowing the racing community lost another star and that I had lost a friend and hero. When Blaise was pronounced dead at 10:20pm, it was about the same time I had gotten to sleep. Then when I woke up that morning and opened the paper to read the racing section I remember seeing Blaise's name, I didn't read past his name so I was like wow he won the race. Then I read it again, then I saw "Blaise Alexander, 25 died of injuries sustained in a crash while racing for the lead with four laps remaining during the ARCA Easy Care 100 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, NC" I couldn't do anything that day. I didn't want to go to school, but had to, so I didn't do my work, no notes or anything. At vo-tech I was fortunate to have a teacher around my age and who followed racing, understand what I was going through, so he let me be. I just didn't understand why it had to happen, I guess I never will either. I had so much trouble the next few weeks getting over it. Still to this day sometimes I have a lot of trouble, especially now. I'm at college in Williamsport, just outside of his hometown of Montoursville. It is a blessing yet a hardship to be here. I visit his dad's dealership Blaise Alexander Chevy, I visit the football games knowing this was his school, I attend the Catholic church he was a member of and had his funeral, I also do something which I can never do with a straight face, visit his grave in the cemetery. I try to go there every two weeks after church. I pray for him and talk just like I do regularly every night before bed. The pain will never go away, its just varies. I can only imagine what might have been if he were still around. He could have been a NASCAR champion, but I guess we'll never know. I want to be in NASCAR someday, I could have been his crew chief maybe, but again we will never see. I will never forget. Someday I hope to see him in the big race track in the sky, but for now I will just have to keep going on in this life.

In his ARCA career Blaise was the 1996 Rookie of the Year, he also finished 5th in points that year, he made a total of 68 starts for 3 wins, 1998 Toledo, 1999 Pocono, and 2001 Michigan, 22 top-5s and 38 top-10s, and 4 poles 1998 Toledo and Winchester, 2001 Michigan and Watkins Glen. So much potential was lost as result of his death.

I offer these pictures which I have found all over the net in memory of Blaise, I hope you enjoy it. I ask you please be patient while they load. The ones with a blue boarder around them are compressed so you can click for a larger view!

Blaise told me these once,

"Disappointment is motivation for success" -Blaise

"Use disappointments as material for Patience" -Blaise