3/26/76 - 10/4/01
Montoursville, PA
65 career BGN starts (1997 - 2001)
Best Finish: 7th Atlanta (3/11/00)
2 career CTS starts (1997)
Best Finish: 9th Watkins Glen (8/24/97)
3 career ARCA wins, 4 career ARCA poles
1997 was a stepping stone year for Blaise. He made his Craftsman Truck Series debut at Bristol in June, starting 17th and finishing a solid 14th. In August, he qualified for his second Truck Series race at Watkins Glen, this time bringing home an impressive 9th place finish. Blaise made his NASCAR Busch Series debut at Fontana, California where he started 26th and finished 20th. The following week at Rockingham, Alexander turned heads by qualifying sixth. He seemed destined for stardom. The Crestinger team made the committment to run the full 1998 Busch Series schedule.
Blaise quickly found out how tough NASCAR can be. He managed to qualify for only 24 of the season's 31 races, and failed to finish a race in the top ten. His best showing came at Darlington in March where he finished 12th. The team disbanded and it was back to ARCA for Blaise in 1999. Despite only running a limited schedule Alexander made the most of his opportunity by scoring the first two wins of his young ARCA career, one at Toledo and the second coming a month later at Pocono. His skill caught the attention of Winston Cup driver Sterling Marlin who put him in the seat of his #14 Busch Series car for the second Charlotte race. Marlin's Winston Cup car owner, Felix Sabates took notice of the young driver and signed him to drive in the Busch Series in 2000.
With sponsorship backing from Tracfone and WCW, 2000 appeared to be Blaise's best shot at making a name for himself in NASCAR. He would once again learn how difficult is to stand out in NASCAR. He kicked of the season by failing to qualify for the first race of the season at Daytona. A week later at Rockingham, Alexander qualified a solid 6th only to finish a disappointing 30th. A few weeks later, Blaise finished 7th at Atlanta. It would turn out to be the highlight of the year as he would score only one more top 10 finish. He finished on the lead lap just three times in the 31 races he started and finished a disappointing 25th in the final point standings. Halfway through the year, Alexander earned a chance to drive Joe Faulk's Winston Cup car at Talladega, but Blaise could not find enough speed to make the race. He again tried at the season ending race at Atlanta, but produced the same result. The frustrations of 2000 had him looking for a new ride for 2001.
After splitting with SABCO, Alexander joined the upstart team formed by Armando Fitz for the 2001 Busch Series season. He qualified for the first four races of the season, posting two top 20 finishes, but lack of sponsorship caused him to lose his ride. It was once again back to ARCA. Blaise teamed up with veteran car owner Bob Schacht at Michigan in July for the Michigan ARCA RE/MAX 200, putting his Pontiac on the pole. He led 44 of 100 laps and posted his third career ARCA victory. The win was a shot in the arm for Blaise, who had not tasted victory since 1999. After running two more Busch races for car owner Dave Carroll, lack of sponsorship had Alexander searching for a ride again. He landed another shot at the wheel of Schacht's car for the ARCA race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in October. Blaise ran well all day, qualifying 4th and leading 12 laps. With just four laps remaining, he found himself in a position to win. He caught race leader Kerry Earnhardt and made a move to the inside for the lead. They tangled coming off the fourth turn and Alexander's car slammed nearly head-on into the front-stretch wall. Earnhardt's car flipped onto its roof, catching fire. He emerged from the wreckage unscathed. Blaise Alexander was not so fortunate. Alexander suffered severe head injuries and despite the safety crew's best efforts, he passed away. He was just 25 years-old.
Alexander's death was the sixth in major stock car racing in the previous two years. As a result, NASCAR mandated the use of head and neck restraint devices for all of its drivers. Sadly, we will never know just how great a driver he could have been. But if any silver lining can be found in the tradgedy, it is that his death may have helped save many more lives of future drivers. Rest in peace, Blaise.
