A. J. Fike (born December 29, 1980) is an American professional racing driver.[1] He is the older brother of NASCAR driver Aaron Fike. Fike won the 1999 United States Auto Club (USAC) Midget Car rookie of the year title[1] and his younger brother Aaron Fike won the award the following season making them the first brothers to win the award in back to back seasons. He later drove in several NASCAR races.

A. J. Fike
Fike's midget car in 2008
Born (1980-12-29) December 29, 1980 (age 43)
Galesburg, Illinois
Awards1999 USAC National Midget Series Rookie of the Year
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
7 races run over 1 year
Best finish68th (2005)
First race2005 Hershey's Take 5 300 (Daytona)
Last race2005 Sam's Town 250 (Atlanta)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
2 races run over 2 years
Best finish108th (2004)
First race2003 Chevy Silverado 150 (Phoenix)
Last race2004 O'Reilly 200 (Bristol)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
Statistics current as of June 18, 2008.

Racing career

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ARCA

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In Chevrolets and Pontiacs fielded by former ARCA RE/MAX Series driving champion Andy Hillenburg, he finished 7th in ARCA RE/MAX Series points in his first season on tour. In 50 career ARCA Series starts, he has 8 top-5 finishes and 19 top-10s with a career-best finish of second at Berlin Raceway in 2004.[2] He scored his first career win in the ARCA series in 2015 when he led the most laps and won on a green-white-checkered finish at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield. Fike competed 15 of 20 ARCA Series events in 2016; he finished 9th in points with eight Top 10 and three Top 5 finishes.[3]

Open-wheel

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He finished tenth in the Indianapolis Speedrome midget points in 1997. In 1998 he finished second in NAMARS Midgets points with three feature event victories. He joined the USAC National Midget Tour in 1999 and was the Rookie of the Year. Fike finished a career-best second in USAC Midget points in 2001[1] with two victories at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas and at the Belleville Midget Nationals, also in Kansas. He finished runner-up in USAC Midget Copper World Classic at Phoenix in 2001. He also finished sixth in USAC Midget national points in 2002; posting a win at Limaland Motorsports Park in Ohio. His career-best Silver Crown finish was a third in the Copper World Classic at Phoenix International Raceway in 2002. Fike also posted three top-10 Silver Crown finishes in 5 starts in 2002. He finished 11th in USAC Sprint national points in 2002 with two runner-up finishes.

He was the Pork Pole winner at the Springfield mile-dirt track. Fike also qualified second at DuQuoin & Berlin. His best superspeedway qualifying effort was tenth at Gateway. Fike led for 48 laps in two races. A veteran of USAC Sprint, Midget and Silver Crown Series competition, NAMARS, Badger and ARCA Midgets and go-karts.

After racing in NASCAR, he resumed racing in ARCA and Open Wheel. In 2009, he finished second in the USAC Silver Crown points.[4]

NASCAR

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Truck Series

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Fike made two career starts in the Craftsman Truck Series.[5] In 2003, Fike drove the #82 Ninetynine Racing Chevy at Phoenix. He started last in his debut, 36th in the field and finished 27th in the race, 6 laps off the pace.[5] The next year, Fike would compete again for one race. He drove the #08 1-800-For-A-Phone Chevy at Bristol Motor Speedway for Green Light Racing. He once again started 36th and finished 33rd.[5]

Busch Series

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Fike began running the Busch Series part-time in 2005, splitting time with his brother Aaron in the No. 43 fielded by Curb Racing.[6] He made his debut at the season opener at Daytona, starting 25th and finishing 30th. At Phoenix, A.J. made the field in 36th, but finished in 30th, one lap off the pace. He would race again at Nashville in June, securing his best career finish at that time of 28th. He was 32nd at Milwaukee Mile, 30th at Pikes Peak International Raceway and 33rd at IRP. A.J. started his last race of the season at Memphis Motorsports Park, finishing on the lead lap for the second time that season and finished 21st in his Liberty Village Dodge.

Motorsports career results

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NASCAR

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

Busch Series

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NASCAR Busch Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 NBSC Pts Ref
2005 Curb Agajanian Performance Group 43 Dodge DAY
30
CAL MXC LVS ATL NSH BRI TEX PHO
30
TAL DAR RCH CLT DOV NSH
28
KEN MLW
32
DAY CHI NHA PPR
30
GTY
DNQ
IRP
33
GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM
21
TEX PHO HOM 68th 529 [7]

Craftsman Truck Series

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NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 NCTC Pts Ref
2003 Ninetynine Racing 82 Chevy DAY DAR MMR MAR CLT DOV TEX MEM MLW KAN KEN GTW MCH IRP NSH BRI RCH NHA CAL LVS SBO TEX MAR PHO
27
HOM 116th 82 [8]
2004 Green Light Racing 08 Chevy DAY ATL MAR MFD CLT DOV TEX MEM MLW KAN KEN GTW MCH IRP NSH BRI
33
RCH NHA LVS CAL TEX MAR PHO DAR HOM 108th 64 [9]

ARCA Racing Series

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

ARCA Racing Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 ARSC Pts Ref
2004 Fast Track Racing 11 Pontiac DAY
18
NSH
10
SLM
15
KEN
17
TOL
6
CLT
12
KAN
16
POC
28
SBO
9
BLN
2
GTW
3
LER
6
TOL
25
TAL
18
7th 4715 [10]
Chevy MCH
38
KEN
25
POC
28
NSH
5
ISF
20
DSF
17
CHI
8
SLM
8
2005 10 DAY NSH SLM KEN TOL LAN MIL POC MCH KAN KEN BLN POC GTW LER NSH MCH ISF
8
TOL 83rd 350 [11]
RFMS Racing Chevy DSF
17
CHI SLM TAL
2006 12 Ford DAY NSH SLM WIN KEN TOL POC MCH KAN KEN BLN POC GTW NSH MCH ISF
18
MIL TOL DSF
6
CHI SLM TAL IOW 83rd 355 [12]
2007 DAY USA NSH SLM KAN WIN KEN TOL IOW POC MCH BLN KEN POC NSH ISF
35
MIL GTW DSF
4
CHI SLM TAL TOL 87th 285 [13]
2008 DAY SLM IOW KAN CAR KEN TOL POC MCH CAY KEN BLN POC NSH ISF
30
DSF
26
CHI SLM NJE TAL TOL 102nd 180 [14]
2009 10 DAY SLM CAR TAL KEN TOL POC MCH MFD IOW KEN BLN POC ISF
4
CHI TOL DSF
4*
NJE SLM KAN CAR 66th 445 [15]
2010 DAY PBE SLM TEX TAL TOL POC MCH IOW MFD POC BLN NJE ISF
5
CHI DSF
25
TOL SLM KAN CAR 65th 330 [16]
2011 DAY TAL SLM TOL NJE CHI POC MCH WIN BLN IOW IRP POC ISF
28
MAD DSF
28
SLM KAN TOL 98th 180 [17]
2012 18 DAY MOB SLM TAL TOL ELK POC MCH WIN NJE IOW CHI IRP POC BLN ISF
24
MAD SLM DSF
C
KAN 118th 110 [18]
2013 11 DAY MOB SLM TAL TOL ELK POC MCH ROA WIN CHI NJE POC BLN ISF
14
MAD DSF
9
IOW SLM KEN KAN 71st 350 [19]
2014 27 DAY MOB SLM TAL TOL NJE POC MCH ELK WIN CHI IRP
21
POC BLN
13
ISF
13
MAD
24
DSF
11
SLM KEN KAN 32nd 750 [20]
2015 DAY MOB NSH
23
SLM TAL TOL
4
NJE POC MCH CHI WIN
10
IOW
12
IRP
12
POC BLN
10
ISF
1*
DSF
6
SLM
7
KEN KAN 18th 1645 [21]
2016 DAY NSH
2
SLM
14
TAL TOL
21
NJE POC MCH
7
MAD
8
WIN
7
IOW
12
IRP
13
POC BLN
5
ISF
2
DSF
16
SLM
10
CHI
12
KEN
8
KAN
14
9th 2945 [22]
2017 DAY
34
NSH
15
SLM
15
TOL
16
ELK
9
POC
18
MCH
13
MAD
12
IOW
15
IRP
15
POC
20
ISF
8
ROA DSF
22
SLM
8
CHI KEN KAN 12th 2970 [23]
Chevy TAL
11
Fast Track Racing 10 Toyota WIN
12

References

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  1. ^ a b c "A.J. Fike Biography". Motor Racing Network. Archived from the original on 29 January 2013. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  2. ^ "A.J. Fike Career Statistics". racing-reference.info. 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
  3. ^ "ARCA Racing Series standings for 2016". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2023-01-15.
  4. ^ "24th Annual Chili Bowl". Chili Bowl. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  5. ^ a b c "Craftsman Truck Series results". NASCAR. Archived from the original on 2 March 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  6. ^ "NASCAR Nationwide Series results". NASCAR. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  7. ^ "A. J. Fike – 2005 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  8. ^ "A. J. Fike – 2003 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  9. ^ "A. J. Fike – 2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  10. ^ "A. J. Fike – 2004 ARCA Re/Max Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  11. ^ "A. J. Fike – 2005 ARCA Re/Max Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  12. ^ "A. J. Fike – 2006 ARCA Re/Max Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  13. ^ "A. J. Fike – 2007 ARCA Re/Max Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  14. ^ "A. J. Fike – 2008 ARCA Re/Max Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  15. ^ "A. J. Fike – 2009 ARCA Re/Max Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  16. ^ "A. J. Fike – 2010 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  17. ^ "A. J. Fike – 2011 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  18. ^ "A. J. Fike – 2012 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  19. ^ "A. J. Fike – 2013 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  20. ^ "A. J. Fike – 2014 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  21. ^ "A. J. Fike – 2015 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  22. ^ "A. J. Fike – 2016 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  23. ^ "A. J. Fike – 2017 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
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