ARCA Midgets: Fike and Fike too fast at Flat Rock
4 June 2000
Flat Rock, MI, 6-3-00 - It came down to the last lap and a battle against brothers as AJ Fike (right) held off his kid 17-year-old brother Aaron (left) by less than a length to win the thrilling 30 lap ARCA/UMARA co-sanctioned Auto Value Midget Series 30 lap main event Saturday night at Flat Rock Speedway. Davey Ray finished third ahead of '95 ARCA champion Larry Gibson and Dave Baumgartner, who raced from last to fifth in the final running order. "I knew someone was back there but I didn't know who it was," said the senior Fike member. "I had someone on me most of the way so no matter who it was, I did my best to hold my line and stay in the lead. Even when Aaron (Fike) was alongside me in the last corner I was too busy trying to make sure I wasn't going to screw up to really notice who it was. I'd like to thank my father for all he does for me and my brother, our sponsors McGladrey & Pullen and McLeod USA and everyone else who helps. We had a big weekend. It feels great. These Hawk chassis are working machines." Fike (AJ), who started from the pole, led at the onset and stretched his advantage to five lengths until veteran Nick Fornoro, who started seventh, got fired up. Fornoro was soon in second and chasing down the leader when 2-time ARCA Midget champion Gene Lee Gibson and Dave Baumgartner locked horns on the frontstretch. The incident brought the first of three cautions out and eliminated Gibson from the running order while Baumgartner restarted on the tail-end. When racing resumed, Fornoro worked the young Galesburg, Illinois driver over continuously until his #59 Gary Mullins-owned Midget slowed abruptly on the backstretch. For the second consecutive night, Fornoro coasted pitside with mechanical woes while the leader got some badly-needed breathing room. Fike (AJ) continued to lead with Ray, Gibson and Fike (Aaron), who started 10th, stacked up tight in his rears when the final caution came out setting up the stage for a two-lap shootout. When the green flag waved for the final time, the younger Fike, who won the Hoosier Tire Pole Award earlier with a new one-lap track record and won the night before at Toledo, quickly hooked up to the high-side and drove around Gibson and Ray. With the white flag already in the air, Aaron, still on the high side, went wheel to wheel with his brother in three and four coming down to meet the checkered flag. But with smoke pouring from the runner-up finisher's rear tires, the chassis loosened up just enough to hand the advantage back to his brother who soared across the final stripe with a slim margin. Cincinnati, Ohio's JD Turner finished sixth in front of IRL driver Ronnie Johncox, David Thompson, Don Carter Jr and Phil Rutledge to complete the top-10. Heat race winners were TR Barker, Gene Lee Gibson, Kevin Myers and Baumgartner. Thompson won the first B-main while Carter won the second. 2000 ARCA AUTO VALUE MIDGET SERIES EVENT #4 Flat Rock Speedway, Flat Rock MI Official Results, 6-3-00 FIN STR CAR POS POS NO DRIVER/RESIDENCE TEAM SPONSOR/MAKE 1 1 32 AJ Fike/Galesburg IL McGladrey & Pullen-McLeod USA Esslinger Hawk 2 10 69 Aaron Fike/Galesburg IL McGladrey & Pullen LLP Gaerte Hawk 3 2 0 Davey Ray/Davenport OH Robert Bohn Autocraft Shores 4 5 00 Larry Gibson/Richwood OH Gilliland Body Shop-RentAJohn Brayton Hawk 5 11 99 Dave Baumgartner/Ottawa Lake MI Pacific Life Autocraft Hawk 6 4 53 JD Turner/Cincinnati OH Premier Fastener Gaerte Hawk 7 6 21 Ronnie Johncox/Jackson MI Bisbee Travel Network Brayton Hawk 8 8 24 David Thompson/Minooka IL MAC Tools Thompson Wevercraft 9 13 26 Don Carter Jr/Elwood IL Carter Racing Brayton Beast 10 12 97 Phil Rutledge/Troy MI The Vette Shop-Duggan's Irish Pub Pontiac 11 18 3 John Batts/Advance IN Batts Racing Autocraft Edmunds 12 17 90 Patrick Stewart/Jamestown IN Stewart Racing Brayton Stealth 13 3 20 Klaus Wever/Joliet IL D'ARCY Autocraft Ellis 14 14 87 Matt Estep/South Holland IL Spitfire Automotive Esslinger Beast 15 21 66 Chris Rhein/Phoenix AZ Red Roof Inns-Bondurant Hawk Brayton 16 16 45 Kevin Myers/Wapakoneta OH Allied Equipment-Newman's Welding Gaerte 17 19 16 TR Barker/Whitehouse OH Benefiel Racing Fontana 18 20 28 AJ Davis/Spartanburg SC Greg's Body Shop Brayton Competition Welding 19 15 3 Mike Astrauskas/Sand Lake MI Alliance CNC-MPD Welding Autocraft Beast 20 7 59 Nick Fornoro/Stroudsburg PA Gary Mullins Motorsports Autocraft 21 9 0 Gene Lee Gibson/Richwood OH Ideas Corp-Gilmore Constrctn Gibson Autocraft Hoosier Tire Pole Award: Aaron Fike 11.590 seconds NTR Heat Winners: TR Barker, Gene Lee Gibson, Kevin Myers, Dave Baumgartner B-Main #1 Winner: David Thompson B-Main #2 Winner: Don Carter Jr Lap Leaders: Fike 1-30 (30)