Mike Alexander (born July 31, 1957) is a retired American

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

. He won the NASCAR Weekly Series national championship in 1983.Schaefer, Paul. ''Where Stars Are Born: Celebrating 25 Years of NASCAR Weekly Racing''. Coastal 181, Newburyport, Massachusetts, USA, 2006. . pp. 11-15. He also raced in

Winston Cup The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, ...

and in the

Busch Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

Career before national racing

Alexander was the 1978 and 1992 track champion at the historic Nashville International Raceway, now known as

Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway is a motorsport racetrack located at the Nashville Fairgrounds near downtown Nashville, Tennessee. The track is the second-oldest continually operating track in the United States. The track held NASCAR Grand Nati ...

. In 1983, driving Late Models on paved tracks for car owner Bobby Ray Jones, he won the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series national championship, and won the NASCAR Grand American Stock Car championship in its final year. Alexander won 31 of the 56 races that he entered. Most were at Nashville, Tennessee or Birmingham, Alabama (where he won the track championship), but some ranged as far as South Carolina or Florida. He was born to a family well-known in the Nashville automotive scene who operated several area franchised dealerships. 2020 Brought Alexander back to the fairgrounds with ARCA driver Mason Mingus behind the wheel of the famed 84 throwback to the BRJ days in the 80’s. The two paired up with longtime Fairgrounds member Ben Pruitt and Mark Lawson. 2021 plans are the same as 2020 with Mingus driving and Alexander on top of the box.

NASCAR career

Winston Cup Series

Alexander began his national-level racing career in the

Winston Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and fro ...

. He made the field in the Music City 420 in 1980 and performed fairly well, finishing tenth. He ran part of the 1981 season for Bob Rogers. Most of his finishes in 1981 were in the Top 15 (if he was running). He ran most of the first 22 races in 1984 for car owner

Dave Marcis David Alan Marcis (born March 1, 1941) is an American former professional stock car racing driver on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit whose career spanned five decades. Marcis won five times over this tenure, twice at Richmond, including his final ...

with limited success. In 1985 he ran a partial schedule for Sims Brothers and Sadler Brothers. He drove for the Stavola Brothers for the final 16 races in 1988, substituting for the injured

Bobby Allison Robert Arthur Allison (December 3, 1937 – November 9, 2024) was an American professional stock car racing driver and owner. Allison was the founder of the Alabama Gang, a group of drivers based in Hueytown, Alabama, where there were abundant ...

. He had his greatest success in 1988, with six top-ten finishes in 18 starts, including a career best 3rd-place finish at the season finale at the

Atlanta Motor Speedway Atlanta Motor Speedway (currently known as EchoPark Speedway for sponsorship reasons, formerly known as the Atlanta International Raceway from 1960 to 1990) is a quad-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Hampton, Georg ...

. In 1989, Alexander drove the Stavola Brothers car at Daytona, but he was hampered by the effects of an injury in the

Snowball Derby The Snowball Derby presented by Bayou Fox Hooters is a 300-lap late model, super late model stock car racing, stock car race held annually at the Five Flags Speedway, a half-mile paved oval track in Pensacola, Florida, Pensacola, Florida, United ...

Five Flags Speedway Five Flags Speedway is a half-mile (0.8 km) paved oval track racing, oval racetrack in Pensacola, Florida. It opened in 1953 and is located on Pine Forest Road. It is christened after the nickname of Pensacola—"City of Five Flags." It run ...

Pensacola, FL Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only incorporated city, city in Escambia County, Florida, Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

the previous December, and resigned from the ride. His final stint in Cup was the first seven races for

Motorsports in 1990.

Busch Series

Alexander ran a partial season in the

in 1986. He ran full-time in 1987 and 1988, and had a win in both seasons (1987 Langley Speedway) and (1988

Hickory Motor Speedway Hickory Motor Speedway is a short track located in Hickory, North Carolina. It is one of stock car racing's most storied venues, and is often referred to as the "World's Most Famous Short Track" and the "Birthplace of the NASCAR Stars". The t ...

). He had three career poles. He had 31 Top 10 finishes in his 71 Busch starts.

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

=Daytona 500

Busch Series

ARCA Talladega SuperCar Series

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

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Mike Living people 1957 births Sportspeople from Franklin, Tennessee Racing drivers from Tennessee NASCAR drivers ARCA Menards Series drivers American Speed Association drivers