Blaise Alexander

Blaise Alexander
Born	March 26, 1976(1976-03-26) Montoursville, Pennsylvania
Died	October 4, 2001(2001-10-04) (aged 25) Charlotte Motor Speedway Concord, North Carolina
Cause of death	Racing accident
Awards	1996 ARCA Rookie of the Year
NASCAR Nationwide Series career
65 race(s) run over 5 year(s)
Best finish	25th – 2000
First race	1997 Kenwood Home & Car Audio 300 (California)
Last race	2001 MBNA.com 200 (Dover)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 2 0
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
2 race(s) run over 1 year(s)
First race	1997 Loadhandler 200 (Bristol)
Last race	1997 Parts America 150 (Watkins Glen)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 1 0

Blaise Alexander (March 26, 1976 – October 4, 2001) was a stock car racer from Montoursville, Pennsylvania. He began racing at the age of 12 in go-karts, winning the coveted World Karting Association East Regional championship in 1992. In 1995, he moved south to Mooresville, North Carolina and was named Rookie of the Year in the ARCA series the following year. Over his ARCA career, he won three times. In 1997, he began running NASCAR in the Busch Series and the Craftsman Truck Series. He only tasted modest success but was signed on to run for Team SABCO in the Busch Series in 2000, posting two top-ten finishes and finishing 25th in points. After that year, he decided to return to the ARCA series for more experience.

On October 4, 2001, during the EasyCare 100 at Lowe's Motor Speedway, Alexander was battling Kerry Earnhardt for the lead when their cars touched, sending Earnhardt flipping upside-down through the infield while Alexander crashed into the outside retaining wall nearly head-on. Earnhardt made it out unscathed, but Alexander was taken to the hospital unconscious and showing no pulse. Within 25 minutes, he was pronounced dead. His death, the sixth stock car racing fatality in two years, convinced NASCAR to mandate the HANS device for all drivers.

Upon arriving in North Carolina, Alexander also 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.

Alexander's memory has been honored by Johnson in several public and private ways. Johnson dedicated his first Cup win to Alexander during a nationally viewed Victory Lane interview and also recognized the Alexander family several years later, also in a Victory Lane interview, following a Cup race that took place just days after the passing of Blaise's mother. As Johnson's busy schedule permits, he continues to support various charity causes and events that Alexander initiated in his hometown area of Central Pennsylvania.

Early life

Alexander was born on March 26, 1976 in Montoursville, Pennsylvania. He began his stock car career at age 12 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. During this time, Alexander's career began to flourish. In 1997, he competed in fifteen ARCA Re-Max Series and then expanded his racing career into the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, where he was in two races, the Watkins Glen road course and Bristol oval. Alexander entered the Busch Series in the same year, posting a top-10 finish at North Carolina Speedway in only his second start in the series. His best career finish, however, did not come until 2000's Atlanta Motor Speedway race, racing for Team SABCO.

ARCA racing career

Alexander began driving in the ARCA Re-Max Series in 1995 and won Rookie of the Year honors the year after. During his rookie season, Alexander pulled off a second-place finish at Lowe's Motor Speedway and two second-place finishes in 1997. Alexander won his first ARCA race in 1998 at Toledo Speedway and won a second race the same year at Pocono Raceway. He led in 18 ARCA races for a grand 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 at Michigan, Watkins Glen, Toledo and Winchester.

Death

On October 4, 2001, Alexander participated in the EasyCare 100 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. He had been fighting for the lead position with Kerry Earnhardt for most of the race. At Lap 63 of 67, Earnhardt had to dodge a lap car by hitting his brakes, which caused Alexander's #75 to catch up to Earnhardt's #2. Alexander began to inch into the lead when Earnhardt's car broke traction at the rear and made contact with Alexander's, sending Alexander's car head-on into the wall and 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. The ARCA race officials quickly threw out the red flag to send rescue workers onto the track to check on Alexander. Earnhardt had already gotten out of his car and wanted to go check on Alexander, a good friend of his. Officials would not allow Earnhardt to see him and was taken to the infield care center. As soon as he left, he went for Blaise's car, but by the time he got there, the ambulance was already leaving. Alexander was pronounced dead at the infield care center at 10:20 PM, at age 25. Alexander was interred at the Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Montoursville, Pennsylvania, his hometown.

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 Adam Petty, Kenny Irwin, Jr. and Tony Roper as well as Dale Earnhardt, Sr., and finally motivated NASCAR to require the use of head and neck restraint devices 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.

In response to these deaths, NASCAR also stepped up testing of soft wall technology, eventually leading to the installation of the SAFER barrier on all NASCAR oval tracks.

See also

• Lowe's Motor Speedway

External links

• Blaise Alexander at Racing Reference
• YouTube video of crash