Drag Illustrated Issue 139, December 2018 | Page 85
30 UNDER 30 · 2018
VICTORY AT LAST
At 29 years old, Alexander
achieved his childhood
dream of winning an NHRA
Wally in the nitro classes
- twice. His next goal is
to double his chances of
winning by expanding to a
full 24-race schedule.
never forget and always pursue,” Alexander says.
“It’s going to define part of their life. It’s always
exciting to see.”
A
lexander admits he was confident head-
ing into the 2018 season. He and the
Pronto/BVR dragster made their official
debut together at the traditional NHRA
preseason test session at Wild Horse Pass Motor-
sports Park near Phoenix just before the Winter-
nationals. It didn’t take long for him to realize
that with Douglas and company in his corner, his
dream of hoisting a Wally wasn’t so far off now.
“I was impressed with all the people I worked
with from day one at testing,” Alexander remem-
bers. “I think we were the third- or fourth-fastest
car there and we only made 3-4 runs total. Right
out of the box the thing was running low .70s
and going over 330 mph. The first run I made I
shut it off at half-track and it ran 3.78 or some-
thing like that. That got everyone’s attention,
including mine.”
Alexander started the season at the NHRA
Arizona Nationals with a No. 7 qualifying effort
and second-round loss to eventual world cham-
pion Steve Torrence. It was a respectable start,
but merely a warm-up compared to what was to
come. Two months later, Alexander raced to the
final round at the Southern Nationals in Atlanta.
He defeated the three most recent Top Fuel world
champions – Antron Brown, Brittany Force and
Torrence – before going .006 red to Leah Pritchett,
a moment that haunted Alexander for weeks.
“It made me hungry to never make that mistake
again,” Alexander says. “I spent one day at home,
cussing at myself and hating myself, then I went
and worked out every day and did everything that
I could do to make sure that I never mess that
up again. I basically just wanted another chance.”
Remarkably, Alexander got his chance just two
races down the road. After a semifinal finish at
the Route 66 Nationals near Chicago, Alexander
marched past the entire Don Schumacher Racing
Top Fuel roster to meet Terry McMillen in the
final round at the Summit Nationals in Norwalk,
Ohio. The two independent racers left the starting
line nearly together, but Alexander pulled ahead
and held out for a 4.01-second winning pass to
claim his first-ever NHRA event victory. He was
speechless when NHRA on FOX reporter Aman-
da Busick approached him with TV cameras in
the shutdown area, truly taken back by what had
just happened.
“I was just making little-kid excitement noises
when I saw the win light, just giddy like a two-
year-old,” laughs Alexander, who became one
of the youngest winners in Top Fuel history at
29. “When I got out of the car and everyone was
congratulating me and they were handing me the
trophy I had always wanted, I realized that it was
ultimately something that I’d always wanted to
do, I’d done it and no one is ever going to take it
away from me. It made me get a little emotional.”
Some say the victories come easier after the
first one, and while Alexander might have em-
bodied that phrase when he scored his second
Top Fuel victory two races later at the Sonoma
Nationals, it really was just the result of Douglas’
smart tuning strategy playing out just right.
“The team’s expectation level changed after
Norwalk, but at the same time we were surprising
everyone else,” Alexander believes. “We just made
lots of good runs in the .70s and kept going down
the track. That combination’s pretty hard to beat.”
Not only has that combination been hard to
beat, it’s been flat-out unbeatable in the first
round. Alexander will finish the season as the
only driver in the NHRA’s four professional cat-
egories without a single first-round loss. He also
has the best points-per-race average in the class,
giving him the No. 12 spot in points behind only
full-time drivers.
“We’re all really competitive on this team and if
you give us a chance to compete, every guy’s going
to do their job and go up there knowing that they
gave it their best and be a little confident even
though it looks like the deck is stacked against
us,” Alexander says. “Sometimes we missed the
mark in qualifying, but we always found a way to
get it right on Sunday. I think that’s the mark of
a great race team because if you can rely on your
experience and your understanding of your job,
it’ll allow all of us to come together and ultimately
win some rounds on Sunday, which is what we
all come to the track to do.”
Looking ahead, Alexander’s prospects are
brighter than they’ve ever been. His current
supporters are thrilled with what they’re getting.
New companies have been turned onto the idea
of getting involved with the bright, marketable
young star. Plus, his marketing materials are
now complete with the addition of a few magical
words: NHRA Top Fuel event winner.
“It always helps when you can include those
words in your business propositions,” Alexan-
der agrees. “To be honest, I’d like to think I still
could’ve sold and done well because I always have,
but now I have the validation of a win. The next
things that come my way should be a little bit
larger. Things should continue to go well because
my career is growing, not shrinking.”
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December 2018
DragIllustrated.com
| D r a g I l l u s t r a t e d | 85