USAC
Series Springfield spotlight - A.J. Fike
A.J. FIKE EYES SPRINGFIELD "DOUBLE" THIS WEEKEND; AL UNSER WON BOTH IN 1972 A.J. Fike of Galesburg, Ill. would like to become the second driver to ever "sweep" the USAC and ARCA Illinois State Fairgrounds events this weekend when he competes in ...
Edited: Aug 17, 2010, 3:53 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
A.J. FIKE EYES SPRINGFIELD "DOUBLE" THIS WEEKEND; AL UNSER WON BOTH IN 1972
A.J. Fike of Galesburg, Ill. would like to become the second driver to ever "sweep" the USAC and ARCA Illinois State Fairgrounds events this weekend when he competes in both 100-mile races on the 1-mile dirt oval in Springfield. Al Unser was the first, in 1972.
Fike won the pole for last year's "Tony Bettenhausen 100" USAC Silver Crown race and finished fourth, then started 10th and finished fourth in the next day's "Allen Crowe 100" ARCA Stock Car race. He is entered in this Saturday's USAC race and Sunday's ARCA Racing Series event presented by RE/MAX and Menards.
Fike finished second in last year's USAC Silver Crown standings and has climbed to third in the 2010 standings on the strength of his first series victory and three other "top-10s." He won at Iowa Speedway in May, joining his brother Aaron on the list of USAC Silver Crown race winners. In 2004 he won the pole for the "Allen Crowe 100."
Fike will pilot the #3 Liberty Village/McGladrey & Pullen Beast/Foxco in Saturday's "Tony Bettenhausen 100" and then switch over to the RFMS/Liberty Village #10 Ford for Sunday's "Allen Crowe 100."
"The two cars are totally different," says Fike. "The Stock car is much heavier, but I really don't change much how I driver the track from one day to the next. I like to run in the low groove and the two races will be similar, with mandatory stops in both for the first time." Fike won the pole for the ARCA Stock car race in his first outing in 2004 and was on the pole for last year's USAC race. "We've run good in both series," he adds. "It would be nice to win both. Our Silver Crown car was perfect in Iowa (where he won in May) and if it's that good Saturday we'll be tough to beat. With the mid-race stop in the Silver Crown race we'll be running flat-out the last half of the race and not having to conserve tires like we have in the past."
Saturday's "Tony Bettenhausen 100" is stop number six for the USAC Silver Crown cars and will be followed on September 5 by the "Ted Horn 100" at the DuQuoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds.
-source: --USAC--
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Road America: Drayson Racing preview
Next article DTC: Hartman Honda Racing Ring Djursland summary
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Al Unser Sr.
The top Indy 500s ranked: Andretti, Foyt, Mears and more
IndyCar
IndyCar
The top Indy 500s ranked: Andretti, Foyt, Mears and more
Penske, Mears, Foyt, Parnelli Jones pay tribute to Al Unser
IndyCar
IndyCar
Penske, Mears, Foyt, Parnelli Jones pay tribute to Al Unser
Four-time Indy 500 winner Al Unser Sr. dies aged 82
IndyCar
IndyCar
Four-time Indy 500 winner Al Unser Sr. dies aged 82
Latest news
Carson Hocevar credits tow truck driver for saving his race at Talladega
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
2 h
Carson Hocevar credits tow truck driver for saving his race at Talladega
Brad Keselowski to address questions about NASCAR future and RFK exit at Martinsville
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Martinsville II
3 h
Brad Keselowski to address questions about NASCAR future and RFK exit at Martinsville
Hamlin says Chevy teams 'suck at the teat' of Hendrick on superspeedways
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
6 h
Hamlin says Chevy teams 'suck at the teat' of Hendrick on superspeedways
Valtteri Bottas denies he might lose his Cadillac seat for F1 2027
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
6 h
Valtteri Bottas denies he might lose his Cadillac seat for F1 2027
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe