Blake Feese knew he was going to be a racecar driver almost as soon as he could speak.

“My dad raced Late Models and Sprint cars,” Feese remembered. “We were at a race one night, and the six-cylinder cars came out on the track. The cars were kind of slow. I looked up at Dad and said, ‘I go faster.’ That was my first complete sentence.”

The youngster’s love affair with speed started early, as he began zipping around his neighborhood on a gas-powered four-wheeler at the ripe old age of four.

At the age of 10, Feese began racing Quarter Midget cars, winning the first two races he entered. Three years later, Feese moved up to mini-sprint cars.

In 1998, Feese won the 600cc mini-sprint track championship at Jacksonville (Ill.) Raceway, winning 17 of 32 races.

The following year, Feese made the jump to 410-cubic inch winged Sprint Cars, winning in just his 13th start.

In 2000, Feese won three feature events with the IRA (Interstate Racing Association), which sanctions sprint car races in Wisconsin and surrounding states.

From 1999 through 2001, Feese mostly drove for his family-owned team, but knew he needed to drive other people’s equipment if he wanted to be considered as a prospect.

In 2001, working with Kenny Mulligan Racing, Feese went to Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway for a WoO event. The team basically built its car while in the infield, then went out and finished ninth with it that night.

“That race kind of put me on the map,” Feese said. “People saw what I could do in someone else’s equipment.”

In August, 2001, Feese won his first feature event at Iowa’s Knoxville Raceway, one of the top sprint car tracks in the country. At only 19 years old, Feese was one of the youngest drivers to ever win a feature there.

In 2002, Feese won the All Star Sprint 30 lap feature race at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway, and won three more times at Knoxville Raceway that year.

While Feese had an abundance of talent, he never had an abundance of resources.

“It was just myself and whoever volunteered to help out (working on the car),” Feese said. “We had sponsors who gave us parts, but no sponsors bringing us money. We had good equipment, but not a lot of spare parts.”

While running second in a WoO event in Pevely, Mo., Feese crashed, destroying his car just a few weeks before the biggest event of the sprint car season, the Knoxville Nationals.

Feese rounded up enough parts to build another car, but on the preliminary race night at Knoxville, that car was destroyed in another accident.

“I remember thinking, ‘That’s it. We’re done,” Feese said. “There was no way we could get another car together.”

Determined to continue, Feese looked for other opportunities. Just a few days later, he signed with Bob Vielhauer’s race team. Two weeks after that, the team won at Knoxville Raceway.

Feese then headed to Charlotte, N.C., for a WoO race, and began his search for a job in NASCAR.

“I knew no one, and had no idea about how to go about finding a ride,” Feese remembers. “I stopped by every major team in the sport. I usually never got past the front desk.

“I told a guy at one team, ‘I have no money, and I don’t have a famous last name. I have very little experience on pavement, and I’ve raced a stock car once.’ The guy said, ‘You might as well go back to Illinois.’

That weekend, a dejected Feese met NASCAR veteran Jimmy Spencer at the WoO event. Spencer put Feese in touch with Charlie Patterson, who used to build drive shafts for a number of NASCAR teams. Patterson had a lot of contacts and had helped other young drivers, like Ryan Newman, get their foot in the door with NASCAR teams.

Over the next several months, Feese met a number of team owners, but no one stepped up to sign the young prospect. Making matters worse, Feese parted ways with Vilhauer, leaving him with no ride for 2003.

Enter Chuck Merrill, owner of Maxim Chassis, a sprint car chassis manufacturer and one of Feese’s sponsors. Merrill put together a deal for Feese to run a few sprint car races in 2003, but it was up to Feese to build the car.

“I got the bare chassis to my shop on a Tuesday,” Feese said. “My friends and I worked 20 hours a day and had the car ready by Saturday. We went to Knoxville that night and finished second.

“A few days later, I headed down to Charlotte for the World of Outlaws race. Using a motor that was three years old, we won the main event.”

The win gave Feese the legitimacy he needed to get the attention of team owners.

The next day, while walking down pit road at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Feese was introduced to Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports. The two arranged a formal meeting to discuss opportunities, but there were no immediate openings with Hendrick’s organization at the time.

A few months later, Feese found a Busch Series team that wanted to hire him, and he drove a Hooters Pro Cup Series race and an ARCA (Automobile Racing Club of America) race for them.

Late in 2003, Feese traveled to Phoenix (AZ.) International Raceway to meet with potential sponsors for that team, but the sponsorship failed to materialize.

While at the track, Feese again bumped into Mr. Hendrick, who told Feese to stay in touch.

“I took him at his word and started calling his office every week,” Feese said.

Without sponsorship, the owner of the Busch Series team told Feese the team could only let him drive two ARCA races in 2004.

With nothing to lose, Feese contacted Hendrick Motorsports with a unique proposition.

“I said, ‘Let me use a Hendrick engine, and I’ll show you what I can do,’” Feese said. “The next thing I know, I get a call that Hendrick will let me drive three ARCA races. I jumped at the chance.”

Feese, along with drivers Boston Reid and Kyle Krisiloff, were signed to Hendrick’s driver development program.

Feese wasted no time in showcasing his talents, qualifying third and winning at Nashville Superspeedway (Tenn.), in a Hendrick-powered entry, in only his second ARCA start.

A few weeks later, Feese finished eighth in the ARCA race at Kentucky Speedway, and posted a seventh-place finish in an ARCA car at Lowe’s Motor Speedway (Concord, N.C.) later that month.

In June, Feese made his NASCAR Busch Series (NBS) debut, driving the No. 87 Chevrolet for NEMCO Motorsports, in partnership with Hendrick Motorsports. Feese also drove the No. 87 in NBS events at Indianapolis (Ind.) Raceway Park, and Dover (Del.) International Speedway.

In October, Feese added another ARCA win to his résumé at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, and gained more stock car experience by driving the No. 00 Haas Automation Racing team for four NBS events in October, 2004.

With the recent announcement that he will share driving duties in the No. 5 Team Lowe’s Racing Chevrolet for the 2005 Busch Series season, Feese is ready to again demonstrate the talent and drive that got him here.

“I’m very lucky to be given such a great opportunity,” Feese said. “I know how hard it is to get to this level, and how many talented drivers never get a shot. I’m going to do everything I can to make the most of it, and to make everyone at Hendrick Motorsports, Lowe’s and its vendor partners proud for giving me this chance.

BLAKE FEESE CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

1998- Won the 600cc mini-sprint track championship at Jacksonville Raceway, winning 17 of 32
races, including 12 wins in a row.

1999- Raced 410 C.I. sprint cars on local tracks in Illinois, including Jacksonville Raceway
Competed in select events at Knoxville Raceway in Iowa, All Star, &WoO.

2000- Won three events with the IRA (Interstate Racing Association). Competed in select World
of Outlaw (WoO) and All Star Circuit events.

2001- August- Won feature event at Knoxville Raceway in Iowa. Competed in select WoO events.

2002- April- Won the All Star Circuit sprint 30 lap feature at Eldora Speedway in Ohio. Won three
weekly racing events at Knoxville Raceway and competed in select WoO events.

2003- May- Won WoO feature event at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. leading all 22 laps of the event. Competed in select events at Knoxville Raceway.

2004- Signed to Hendrick Motorsports’ Driver Development program. Won the April 9 ARCA event at Nashville Superspeedway, and the Oct. 2 ARCA event at Talladega Superspeedway. Competed in a total of four ARCA events and seven NASCAR Busch Series events.