Blake Alexander knew Sunday was going to be a special day.

He didn’t know why. He didn’t know how. He just knew that something big was going to happen.

“I woke up today and I saw my wife and my son and I knew I was in the right place and I was supposed to be here, I just didn’t know what was going to happen today,” Alexander said.

As it turns out, that prophetic vision of a successful Sunday turned into his first career Funny Car victory. Alexander bested class titan Matt Hagan in the final at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals and, in doing so, became the 18th driver in NHRA history to earn a win in both nitro categories, collecting a pair of Top Fuel victories back in 2018.

To add to the deja vu moment, the first of Alexander’s NHRA victories came at this very same race in 2018, as Sunday’s win earned him his first win since that magical season five years ago.

“I’m very blessed to work with the people I work with,” an elated Alexander said. “The sponsors, the team, just all of the work they put into getting here. But (at the end of the day) you have to drive the car well once you show up. And the crew really showed up today. I could feel it today. They were doing their job methodically. And I said to them before the semis, ‘We look like a professional race team,’ which, at points, we just haven’t. I hate to say that, but it’s true.”

Alexander’s team certainly didn’t look the part Friday, as a magical opportunity at a chart-topping qualifying session under the lights was squandered as the team had to shut it off on the line. But the team rebounded Saturday with a 12th-place start on the ladder, and four win lights later, Alexander found himself in victory lane.

In an unexpected final round, Alexander matched up with three-time race winner in 2023 Matt Hagan and simply got the better of him, leaving first and leading wire-to-wire to pick up a huge victory for his single-car Jim Head Inc. team. Alexander drove his Pronto Auto Parts Ford Mustang Funny Car to a 3.935-second pass at 321.96 mph to earn the Wally.

Hagan had a 3.991 at 327.90 mph in his Dodge Direct Connection machine to finish in the runner-up position for the first time this year.

“I told Jim (Head) yesterday that we were going to win a race before the end of the summer, and if anyone heard me say that, they probably would’ve laughed at us,” Alexander said. “But I believed it because I believe in him. I came over here to work for him because he takes care of my family. He takes care of me and gives me the opportunity to go out here and do this and not have to worry and struggle like some people do. He’s helped me build stability into my life and fuel racing, which is impossible to have. I appreciate him for that and I want to win for the guys. They deserved it.”

Ironically, Alexander’s team owner Jim Head also owns a pair of NHRA victories in the nitro categories.

After earning the much-deserved victory, Alexander became quite emotional on the top end and carried that emotion over to the victory celebration and into this post-race interview as he described just what goes into being successful on the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series tour.

“I haven’t won one of these in five years,” Alexander said. “I get up every morning at 4:30 or 5 before my family gets up. I work on making sure that I have enough money to do this because no one pays for me to do this. The way I do this is by working hard.

“After I’ve gotten my kid to school and my wife off to work, I go work out. I try hard because of the people that I compete against. You have to be better because of guys like Matt Hagan. You have to be better because of guys like Justin Ashley. And if you don’t want to get better, then you’re going to get beat out here. So I try to get better. I needed to get better once I started racing Funny Car. Jim and I have come a long way and we’re going to try to keep it going into the future.”

Alexander actually capped the day with a couple of dandy passes to close out the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals, adding a 3.924-second pass at 322.81 mph in the semifinals to advance to his sixth final round. In the other lane, Bob Tasca tried to answer, but smoked the tires moments after the lights turned green. Alexander’s other race-day wins came over Alexis DeJoria and Tim Wilkerson in the opening two rounds as both drivers left early and were sent home with red lights.

Hagan, meanwhile, reached his fourth final of the season with wins over Dale Creasy Jr., Robert Hight and J.R. Todd.

Sunday’s win was a culmination of years of highs and lows for Alexander, but a result that was never in doubt for the young racer as the seasons ticked away without a trophy.

“I’m stubborn and I’m just going to keep showing up,” Alexander said. “I’ve been doing this for 13 or 14 years now and I’m going to keep showing up. People can beat me, but I’m not going to give up. With the circumstances I have, I’m on a scenic journey. Five years ago I said it when I won here that I’m just trying to enjoy it. Now, the journey got a little rough for a little bit in the last five years at times, but that doesn’t really matter now because I’m going to build my character from it. I tried to hold my head high throughout it all and be a good man.”

The win was an especially somber moment as the team enjoyed their first triumph since the death of crew member Dylan Cromwell, who was killed in a multiple-vehicle accident outside of Indianapolis in 2021 driving the Jim Head Racing team hauler to a race at Las Vegas.

“The recovery phase of it was that we were going to go out and just do the work,” Alexander said. “That’s all you can do really. I don’t like to do anything other than do the work that it takes to make something happen. And I was proud of the team today that we did the work.”