A. J. Fike (born December 29, 1980) is an American professional racing driver. He is the older brother of

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

driver

Aaron Fike Aaron Fike (born November 24, 1982) is an American racing driver, a former competitor in NASCAR and USAC. The younger brother of A. J. Fike, he was suspended from NASCAR competition from 2007 to 2012 due to a drug-related arrest. Open-wheel car ...

. Fike won the 1999

United States Auto Club The United States Auto Club (USAC) is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, USAC sanctioned the List of USAC Championship Car seasons, United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the ...

(USAC)

Midget Car Midget cars, also Speedcars in Australia, is a class of racing cars. The cars are very small, with a very high power-to-weight ratio, and typically use four-cylinder engines. They originated in the United States in the 1930s and are raced on most ...

rookie of the year title 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.

Racing career

ARCA

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s and

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s fielded by former ARCA RE/MAX Series driving champion

Andy Hillenburg Andrew Miles Hillenburg (born April 30, 1963) is an American former professional stock car racing driver and current team owner and track owner. His race team, Fast Track Racing, fields multiple cars in the ARCA Menards Series and formerly fielde ...

, 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 Berlin Raceway is a long paved oval race track in Marne, Michigan, near Grand Rapids, Michigan, Grand Rapids. The track races weekly as part of the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series. It has also held touring series events on the ARCA Menar ...

in 2004. 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.

Open-wheel

He finished tenth in the

Indianapolis Speedrome The Indianapolis Speedrome is the oldest operating figure 8 track in the United States as it opened in 1941. It is believed by many historians that this is the first figure 8 track where cars intersect. The Speedrome is home to the World Figu ...

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 with two victories at

Lakeside Speedway Lakeside Speedway is a 4/10 mile auto racing Dirt track located in Kansas City, Kansas. It features racing on a weekly basis from March to October, In, USRA Stock Car, USRA B-Mod, E-Modifieds, Pure Stock categories. Racing at the track is sanctioned ...

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

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 Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. His career-best Silver Crown finish was a third in the Copper World Classic at

Phoenix International Raceway Phoenix Raceway (formerly known as ISM Raceway from 2018–2020, Phoenix International Raceway from 1964–1973 and 1976–2017, and FasTrack International Speedway from 1973–1976) is a dogleg oval track in Avondale, Arizona. The track has ...

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,

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and ARCA Midgets and

go-kart A go-kart, also written as go-cart (often referred to as simply a kart), is a type of small sports car, close wheeled car, open-wheel car or quadracycle. Go-karts come in all shapes and forms, from non-motorised models to high-performanc ...

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

NASCAR

Truck Series

Fike made two career starts in the

Craftsman Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck-based stock car racing, s ...

. In 2003, Fike drove the #82 Ninetynine Racing

Chevy Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...

at Phoenix. He started last in his debut, 36th in the field and finished 27th in the race, 6 laps off the pace. The next year, Fike would compete again for one race. He drove the #08 1-800-For-A-Phone Chevy at

Bristol Motor Speedway Bristol Motor Speedway (formerly known as the Bristol International Raceway from 1978 to 1996 and as the Bristol International Speedway from 1961 to 1978) is a oval Oval track racing#Short track, short track in Bristol, Tennessee. The track ha ...

for

Green Light Racing SS-Green Light Racing is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, fielding the No. 07 Chevrolet Camaro (sixth generation), Chevrolet Camaro SS for multiple drivers and the No. 14 primari ...

. He once again started 36th and finished 33rd.

Busch Series

Fike began running the Busch Series part-time in 2005, splitting time with his brother

Aaron According to the Old Testament of the Bible, Aaron ( or ) was an Israelite prophet, a high priest, and the elder brother of Moses. Information about Aaron comes exclusively from religious texts, such as the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament ...

in the No. 43 fielded by

Curb Racing Curb Racing is a former NASCAR team competing mainly in the Sprint Cup Series and Xfinity Series from 1984 to 2011. The team was owned by Mike Curb, CEO of Curb Records and 45th Lieutenant Governor of California. Curb also had numerous busine ...

. He made his debut at the season opener at

Daytona Daytona may refer to: Locations * Daytona Beach, Florida * Daytona Beach Shores, Florida * South Daytona, Florida * The Daytona Beach metropolitan area * Halifax area, also known as Daytona, the region around Daytona Beach Motor racing * Dayto ...

, 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 The Milwaukee Mile is a oval race track in the central United States, located on the grounds of the Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis, Wisconsin, a suburb west of Milwaukee. Its grandstand and bleachers seats approximately 37,000 spectat ...

, 30th at

Pikes Peak International Raceway Pikes Peak International Raceway (PPIR) is a racetrack in the Colorado Springs area within the city limits of Fountain, Colorado, that by October 12, 1997, was "the fastest 1-mile paved oval anywhere". The speedway hosted races in several series ...

and 33rd at IRP. A.J. started his last race of the season at

Memphis Motorsports Park Memphis International Raceway (formerly known as Memphis Motorsports Park) was an auto racing park located near the Loosahatchie River in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, approximately ten miles south of Millington, and a few miles north ...

, finishing on the lead lap for the second time that season and finished 21st in his

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Dodge Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence, Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above P ...

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

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

Busch Series

Craftsman Truck Series

ARCA Racing Series

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

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fike, A.J. 1980 births Living people NASCAR drivers CARS Tour drivers Sportspeople from Galesburg, Illinois Racing drivers from Illinois USAC Silver Crown Series drivers