Blake Alexander gets lost in the headlines of the star-studded field of NHRA nitro Funny Car drivers.

But make no mistake, Alexander, in the Pronto Auto Service Center/Jim Head Mustang, is a very good driver. He is one of only 18 drivers to win a Top Fuel and Funny Car Wally.

Well, Alexander took the spotlight Friday evening at the Lucas Oil Nationals.

Alexander clocked a 3.874-second elapsed time at 331.61 mph to take the provisional No. 1 qualifying spot Brainerd (Minn.) International Raceway.

“Given the circumstances of the previous race (in Sonoma, Calif.), it was very sweet,” Alexander said of his blistering run. “But also, I think we are capable of doing that, and that wasn’t exactly surprising. It just may have been surprising because of how poorly the last race went for us, especially on Friday night.

“That’s the second time we have run 3.87, and that’s when we start becoming a problem for these guys out here who quite frankly are bigger outfits than us. It feels pretty good to be able to run with them.”

The strong effort was much-needed as he had nightmare experience in Sonoma, blowing up Funny Car bodies and losing in the first round.

“I think we needed that (3.87-second run), is what we were saying,” Alexander said. “I don’t think anyone has any clue how hard these men have to work on these cars after a mistake like that happens. Part of the despair for us is we understand the amount of work and money that has to be spent to come back out here. So, it all felt really good, and it was all very necessary for us to have a good day today and run well. Even if we just had been safe (Friday) and comfortable that would have been good as well, but what we were looking to do on the first run is fixing a small little issue we had in the last race, but we weren’t going to back down.”

If Alexander keeps the top spot through Saturday’s two qualifying sessions it would be historic since it would be the first of his career. Alexander made his professional debut in NHRA in the Funny Car ranks in 2011.

“I don’t know what the weather is going to be like (Saturday), I assume it is going to be warmer and I assume we need to work on what’s going to happen on race day,” Alexander said. “Nothing we did (Friday) is necessarily going to parlay except maybe in E1 at 10:30 a.m. (Sunday) you run really fast. I would say there are going to be some moments in time where you have to be cautious and learn how to drag race the proper way on this racetrack on Sunday and we are looking at doing that.”

After slowing to 7.17 seconds in Q1, Alexander, with Head tuning, found the right combination and rocketed to the No. 1 spot.

“I don’t have a radio, so I didn’t really know what it ran,” Alexander said. “The news gets to me later than everyone else. It’s fun. A lot of guys have blown up in a dragster multiple times in a weekend this year and they wipe the wing off and no one really talks about it, but in a Funny Car if you do that it turns into a massive storyline and the person who is driving the car has to deal with a lot of stuff that people don’t even know. You just move on, and the challenge of it is very sexy for me.”

And Alexander has some fond memories of Brainerd.

“I got engaged in Brainerd 11 years ago and I DNQ'd right after that,” Alexander said. “It was a test of love right away. Brainerd is a special place. I have a lot of family up here and friends. It is just a unique place to drag race, I will say that. Jim Head really likes it up here. He comes up here and fish, and I think he has been here every year that this race has existed.”

Alexander has had a solid 2024 season. He’s competed in 10 of the 12 races on the schedule and he arrived in Brainerd 10th in the season points standings. He has a 10-10 elimination-round record and has made four appearances in the semifinals, with the latest coming in Seattle.

“We are having our best season we have really ever had to be honest with you,” Alexander said. “I think that gets lost because the nature of this business is you’re only as good as your last run and that happens (Saturday) and that will happen on (Sunday), but right now we are happy with where we are at.”

Alexander acknowledged that his team’s progress this season has been a work in progress.

“We started this year, and we wanted to try to learn how to put that run out there in front of everyone when it mattered and it didn’t work and we’ve actually spent quite a bit of money to try and learn how to do it,” Alexander said. “In the meantime, we have figured out how to do it and turn it into a level of consistency is what we are looking at now.”

Alexander won first his national-event Wally in Norwalk, Ohio in Top Fuel in 2018, then duplicated the feat in nitro Funny Car at the facility in 2023. Also in 2018, he was the Top Fuel winner in Sonoma, Calif.

He is excited for the remainder of this season, which consists of the U.S. Nationals from Aug. 28-Sept. 2, followed by the six-race Countdown to the Championship.

“I would say the dog days of summer are over; they happened over June,” Alexander said. “Our sport is leading into the playoffs right now and if you don’t have your stuff together right now it is too late in all honesty. You already missed your chance. You can prove it right now that you have your stuff ready for the playoffs. We are not a team that races to try and collect points because we have not been to all the races.”