A.J. Fike won his first ARCA Racing Series race Sunday, becoming the 10th driver of the season to pick up their first victory. And, the Galesburg, Ill. native did it in his home state.
“I’m kind of at a loss for words right now,” Fike said in victory lane, surrounded by a throng of supporters.
Fike actually dominated the SuperChevyStores.com 100 at the mile dirt track at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield, Ill. He led 60 of the 104 laps and had a lead of nearly seven seconds with 10 laps to go. He survived a late restart to win over Kyle Weatherman by 0.759-seconds. Fike’s previous career best was second at Berlin Raceway in 2004.
“The car was perfect off the trailer,” Fike said. “I can’t say enough about everyone on the team, my pit crew, my dad. This is a great win for us. It’s very exciting.”
Weatherman was second, his third runner-up of the season. Springfield native Kelly Kovski was third, while Josh Williams and Tom Hessert rounded out the top five. Williams moved into second place in the ARCA Racing Series driver point standings while Hessert earned his 10th top 10 of the season.
SCOTT Rookie Hunter Baize, David Levine, Ryan Unzicker, James Swanson and Austin Wayne Self rounded out the top 10.
Series point leader Grant Enfinger finished 20th after his car stalled on the track early in the race and he fell several laps down. He led the first eight laps and was one of six different leaders.
After the final caution flew, the race restarted on lap 101 with the green flag. Weatherman was fourth but got a great restart and drove deep into turn one right behind Fike. He held on for the second spot.
“It was a hard fought battle by the whole team,” Weatherman said. “I thought we might be able to get to the No. 27 if the 6 hadn’t gotten into me on that restart, but that’s racing. It was a good day. It was a lot fun for me out there.”
Kovski, who served as crew chief several races for Enfinger earlier this season at GMS Racing, was happy with his third-place finish.
“We are going to keep trying,” Kovski said. “We’ve got a good car and hopefully we learned something for DuQuoin.”
The ARCA Racing Series races next at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds Racetrack in DuQuoin, IL, another mile-long dirt track. That race will take place Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 7.
ARCA Racing Series
Illinois State Fairgrounds – Springfield, IL
SuperChevyStores.com 100 – Aug. 24, 2015
| FIN | STR | NO | DRIVER/HOMETOWN | TEAM & CAR | LAPS | STATUS |
| 1 | 25 | 27 | A.J. Fike/Galesburg IL | Liberty Village-Office Specialists Ford | 104 | Running |
| 2 | 3 | 22 | Kyle Weatherman/Wentzville MO | Cunningham Motorsports Dodge | 104 | Running |
| 3 | 30 | 16 | Kelly Kovski/Springfield IL | Billingsley Towing-Hoosier Tire Midwest Chevrolet | 104 | Running |
| 4 | 7 | 6 | Josh Williams/Port Charlotte FL | Musselman’s Apple Sauce-SW FL Cable Const. Chevy | 104 | Running |
| 5 | 6 | 77 | Tom Hessert/Cherry Hill NJ | Barbera’s Autoland Dodge | 104 | Running |
| 6 | 8 | 52 | Hunter Baize/Bremen KY | Federated Auto Parts Chevrolet | 104 | Running |
| 7 | 12 | 59 | David Levine/Highland Park IL | MOMO-TraqGear-Ford Performance Ford | 104 | Running |
| 8 | 31 | 24 | Ryan Unzicker/El Paso IL | Hendren Motor Sports Chevrolet | 104 | Running |
| 9 | 17 | 48 | James Swanson/Clarksboro NJ | Kan Do-Radon.com Dodge | 104 | Running |
| 10 | 5 | 98 | Austin Wayne Self/Austin TX | AM Technical Solutions-Pirate Energy Chevrolet | 104 | Running |
| 11 | 10 | 42 | Bo LeMastus/Louisville KY | Crosley Brands-T&T Construction Toyota | 104 | Running |
| 12 | 11 | 58 | Tyler Dippel/Wallkill NY | MOMO-TraqGear-Ford Performance Ford | 104 | Running |
| 13 | 2 | 25 | Frank Kimmel/Clarksville IN | Ansell Menards Toyota | 104 | Running |
| 14 | 24 | 5 | Mark Littleton/Arenzville IL | Birdsley Electric Chevrolet | 103 | Running |
| 15 | 27 | 34 | Mike Basham/Henryville IN | Darrell Basham Racing Chevrolet | 102 | Running |
| 16 | 14 | 9 | Thomas Praytor/Mobile AL | DK-LOK Ford | 102 | Running |
| 17 | 15 | 97 | Alex Clubb/Morris IL | U.S. Bonding-Clubb Lawn & Landscaping Dodge | 102 | Running |
| 18 | 9 | 2 | Sarah Cornett-Ching/Summerland BC | Race101.net Chevrolet | 101 | Running |
| 19 | 28 | 73 | Dale Shearer/Chillicothe MO | Perfection Collision of Indianapolis Ford | 101 | Running |
| 20 | 1 | 23 | Grant Enfinger/Fairhope AL | Triple K Construction-Baldwin Container Co. Chevrolet | 100 | Running |
| 21 | 22 | 3 | Josh White/Charleston WV | Hixson Construction Chevrolet | 99 | Running |
| 22 | 32 | 89 | Brad Dubil/Bettendorf IA | JC Dubil Dodge | 96 | Accident |
| 23 | 13 | 69 | Will Kimmel/Sellersburg IN | Kimmel Racing Toyota | 89 | Accident |
| 24 | 19 | 06 | Con Nicolopoulos/Columbus MI | Wayne Peterson Racing Dodge | 64 | Overheating |
| 25 | 16 | 10 | Ed Pompa/Ballston Spa NY | Milton CAT-Double H Ranch Ford | 49 | Axle |
| 26 | 20 | 40 | Justin Lloyd/San Jose CA | Angry Angel Energy Drink Chevrolet | 34 | Engine |
| 27 | 29 | 56 | B.J. Deal/Brownstown IL | Crosley Brands-T&T Constr-Glad Precision Chevrolet | 29 | Transmssn |
| 28 | 4 | 55 | Matt Tifft/Hinckley OH | Architectural Daylighting Toyota | 19 | Wh. Bearing |
| 29 | 21 | 0 | Wayne Peterson/Pulaski TN | Wayne Peterson Racing Ford | 11 | Overheating |
| 30 | 18 | 68 | Mark Meunier/Louisville KY | Kimmel Racing Ford | 6 | Handling |
| 31 | 23 | 00 | Mike Abram/St. Louis MO | Wayne Peterson Racing Chevrolet | 2 | Brakes |
| 32 | 26 | 81 | Kevin Campbell/St. Louis MO | Country Bob’s Sauces & Seasonings Chevrolet | 2 | Accident |
| Menards Pole Award presented by Ansell: Rained Out | ||||||
| Margin of Victory: .759 seconds | Cautions: 7 for 40 laps | |||||
| Time of Race: 1:25:51 | Average Speed: 72.684 mph | |||||
| Lap Leaders: Enfinger 1-8 (8); Weatherman 9-12, 14-27 (18); F. Kimmel 13 (1); Hessert 28-43 (16); Fike 44-86, 88-104 (60); Williams 87 (1) | ||||||
http://accesswdun.com/article/2015/8/331272/fike-takes-first-arca-victory-on-springfield-mile-dirt