Blaine Anderson often keeps the window shade shut when he flies to tracks on NASCAR weekends, but when he goes to Phoenix, he raises the window shade so he can look around.
As he views the mountain scenery overlooking the fifth-most populous city in the country, nostalgia returns.
While NASCAR competitors have viewed Phoenix as the home to the championship race since 2020, Anderson — a Hendrick Motorsports tire changer who pits Justin Haley’s Spire Motorsports car — views the city as where he won a college football national championship.
“I always look forward to going back to Phoenix every single time,” Anderson told NBC Sports.
Kyle Larson and William Byron will race for title for Hendrick Motorsports Sunday at Phoenix Raceway.
Anderson was on the Alabama football team that defeated Clemson 45-40 for the championship in January 2016 in the home of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals. That stadium is located less than 10 miles from Phoenix Raceway.
Anderson was on the scout team and didn’t play but that didn’t diminish what it mean to win a national title and have a championship ring (along with two Southeastern Conference championship rings).
It was a celebration that nearly didn’t happen.
Blaine Anderson (41) taking part in drills under the watchful eye of then-Alabama coach Nick Saban.
Blaine Anderson (41) taking part in drills under the watchful eye of then-Alabama coach Nick Saban. (Photo Courtesy Blaine Anderson)
Anderson played high school football in Charlotte, North Carolina, and told friends that he would walk-on to the Alabama football team even though he admitted that he “had no direction on how to do that.”
He didn’t try out his freshman year but stayed in shape. Anderson tried out his sophomore year in 2014 and worked with the team in the spring and summer before he was cut.
Anderson again tried out the next year and made the team for the 2015 season as a safety for head coach Nick Saban’s team. The defensive coordinator that year was Kirby Smart, who went on to become the head coach at Georgia, leading that team to the national championship in 2021 and 2022.
Chase Briscoe will make his first appearance in the Cup Championship 4 on Sunday at Phoenix.
The 2015 Alabama team won the SEC championship and then claimed the national title to cap a 14-1 season.
The memories of the championship celebration remain fresh for Anderson.
“You see a pile of confetti (on the field) and everyone’s doing snow angles and you’re like, ‘Well, I want to do that, too,’” Anderson. “Grabbing the (Alabama) flag (and waving it), I honestly don’t remember who handed me the flag, but we basically passed it around like it was a torch. I’ll never forget that I handed it to Derrick Henry. That was a special moment to give it to our captain, our leading rusher, our Heisman Trophy winning guy. That was super special.”
A winless streak last season led to offseason moves that have pushed Joe Gibbs’ organization forward.
The day before the Talladega playoff race, members of that football team had their 10-year reunion at Alabama’s home game against Tennessee.
“It was so fun to see those guys,” Anderson said. “Having everyone together during our pre-game ceremony, it’s wild how like being around everyone it doesn’t feel like 10 years.”
After football, he took part in Hendrick Motorsports’ rookie mini camp. He advanced to the next tryout and made the cut in September 2018, serving as a tire changer for Hendrick cars or teams that use Hendrick’s pit crews since.
Whenever any of the Hendrick cars wins a championship, all the company employees are rewarded. Anderson has company rings when Chase Elliott won the 2020 Cup title and Kyle Larson won the 2021 crown. Larson and William Byron will race for a Cup title Sunday at Phoenix (3 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock).
To go from Alabama football to Hendrick Motorsports makes for quite a career.
“You could look at it either two ways,” Anderson said. “Like Alabama is the Hendrick of college football, or Hendrick is the Alabama of NASCAR. I’m very fortunate. I’m very, very lucky to be a part of both great organizations. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”