ARCA Midgets: Aaron Fike answers tough Toledo Midgeteers
3 June 2000
Toledo, Ohio, 6-2-00 - Aaron Fike capitalized on the misfortunes of veteran Nick Fornoro and held off a spirited charge from defending race winner AJ Davis to win the 30 lap ARCA/UMARA co-sanctioned Auto Value Midget main event here Friday night at Toledo Speedway. "What a great night," said the Galesburg, Illinois youngster. "This place is ultra-fast and I had to hold by breath out there with AJ (Davis) on my bumper. He let me know he was there all night but I want to thank AJ for racing me clean. He's a pro and he raced me like one tonight. This is our first win at Toledo and I can tell you, it means a lot to the team. I want to thank our sponsor McGladrey & Pullen and my family for all the support. This Esslinger Hawk was bad tonight." Davis finished second ahead of Travis Miniea, Jimmy McCune and AJ Fike the top-five. Fike (Aaron), who started on the pole, was peddling hard to hang on to second when the battle for the runner-up spot became a battle for the lead after race leader Fornoro slowed drastically. Fornoro, who started outside pole in Gary Mullins' Autocraft Hawk, led from the onset and was untouchable until mechanical gremlins stopped the veteran open-wheel racer's victory lane hopes just 7 laps from the finish. From there, Davis peaked inside and outside of the eventual winner while Miniea and McCune swapped spots for third and fourth. With the white flag already in the air, the front-four were stacked inches apart down the backstretch on the final circuit. Davis again peaked high one more time in three and four but without enough grip on the high-side, fell back in line in an effort to keep Miniea's at bay. Dave Baumgartner finished sixth in front of IRL racer Ronnie Johncox, '95 ARCA Midget champion Larry Gibson, Blake Chinn and Branson Hartsell to complete the top-10. Davis won the Hoosier Tire Pole Award but with 41 midgets on hand, the Indianapolis, Indiana driver had to come through one of two B-mains to make the main event. Heat winners were Kevin Myers, Brice Kenyon, McCune and Kevin Besecker. Fornoro won the other B-main. 2000 ARCA AUTO VALUE MIDGET SERIES EVENT #3 Toledo Speedway, Toledo OH Official Results, 6-2-00 FIN STR CAR POS POS NO DRIVER/RESIDENCE TEAM SPONSOR/MAKE LAPS STATUS 1 1 69 Aaron Fike/Galesburg IL McGladrey & Pullen, LLP Gaerte Hawk 30 Running 2 6 28 AJ Davis/Indianapolis IN Greg's Body Shop Brayton Competition Welding 30 Running 3 5 77 Travis Miniea/Sharon PA Miniea Motorsports Esslinger Hawk 30 Running 4 9 95 Jimmy McCune/Toledo OH Tom Cherry Mufflers-Battery Exchange Beast 30 Running 5 14 32 AJ Fike/Galesburg IL McGladrey & Pullen, LLP Esslinger Hawk 30 Running 6 4 38 Dave Baumgartner/Ottawa Lake MI Pacific Life Brayton Hawk 30 Running 7 3 21 Ronnie Johncox/Jackson MI Bisbee Travel Network Brayton Hawk 30 Running 8 12 00 Larry Gibson/Richwood OH Gilliland Body Shop-RentAJohn Brayton Hawk 30 Running 9 16 71 Blake Chinn/Tipp City OH AWP of OH-Acheson Trucking Autocraft Kenyon 30 Running 10 15 11 Brandon Hartsell/Joliet IL Ron Tirapelli Suzuki Brayton Stealth 30 Running 11 13 26 Don Carter Jr/Elwood IL Carter Racing Brayton Beast 30 Running 12 11 61 Brice Kenyon/Lebanon IN Kenyon Racing Autocraft Kenyon 30 Running 13 18 2 Kevin Besecker/Dayton OH Miller Bros Excavating Gaerte Stealth 30 Running 14 17 3 Sondi Eden/Crawfordsville IN Miller Bros Excavating Hawk Brayton 29 Running 15 2 59 Nick Fornoro/Stroudsburg PA Gary Mullins Motorsports Autocraft 23 Engine 16 8 9 Jason Fuller/Findlay OH Suspension Spring-AFCO-Hoosier Gaerte Hawk 23 Accident 17 19 45 Kevin Myers/Wapakoneta OH Allied Equipment-Newman's Welding Gaerte 23 Tire 18 10 0 Gene Lee Gibson/Richwood OH Ideas Corp-Gilmore Constrctn Gaerte Hawk 14 19 20 87 Matt Estep/South Holland IL Spitfire Automotive Esslinger Beast 13 20 21 97 Phil Rutledge/Troy MI The Vette Shop-Duggan's Irish Pub Pontiac 9 21 7 48 Steve Thinnes/West Chicago IL Great American Racing Brayton Stealth 3 Hoosier Tire Pole Award: AJ Davis 15.640 seconds Heat Winners: Kevin Myers, Brice Kenyon, Jimmy McCune, Kevin Besecker B-Main #1 Winner: AJ Davis B-Main #2 Winner: Nick Fornoro Lap Leader: Fornoro 1-23 (23); Fike 24-30 (7)