AARON FIKE
#43 Flagstar Bank of Atlanta/CAPG Dodge
NASCAR Busch Series Nicorette 300
Saturday, March 18, 2006 – Atlanta Motor Speedway
TV: Live on FX, 3 p.m. EST; Radio: Live on PRN
Product Partners:
Wiley X, Rod
End Supply, Planar, Odyssey Batteries, Shurtape, Smith
Transport, Mobile Storage Group, X1R, Hylomar, Lehigh Safety
Shoes, High Performance Coatings, Gunk, Dayco
FAST FACTS
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Aaron
Fike makes the 42nd NASCAR Busch Series start of his
career and his first on the mile-and-a-half Atlanta Motor
Speedway quad-oval when he gets behind the wheel of his #43
Flagstar Bank of Atlanta/CAPG Dodge for Saturday’s Nicorette
300.
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Last Saturday at Las Vegas, Fike and the #43 CAPG team
made an early exit from the Sam’s Town 300 when, just 20 laps
from the end of the 200-lap NBS race, a broken rear-end gear
sent him to the garage.
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The 23-year-old driver from Galesburg, Ill., started this
season – his first full-time assault on the NBS schedule – with
a front-row qualifying effort at Daytona.
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Product partner Wiley X Eyewear has stepped up this
weekend in donating promotional space on the #43 CAPG Dodge on
behalf of the Disabled American Veterans organization. Among the
organization’s dignitaries who will be guests of Wiley X and the
team Saturday for qualifying and the race will be National
Commander Paul Jackson, and National Adjutant/CEO Arthur H.
Wilson.
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Smith Transport, the Roaring Spring, Pa.-based trucking
firm with a nearby location in Ellenwood, Ga., is also a special
guest of the CAPG team this weekend. Its national “Driver of the
Year,” Bill Musselman of New Enterprise, Pa., will serve as an
honorary crew member during Saturday’s Nicorette 300.
AARON FIKE QUOTES ON ATLANTA – “The good news coming to
Atlanta is we’re bringing the new car we took to Las Vegas last
weekend, and I think it could become one of my favorites. After
working the bugs out through practice, qualifying and the early
part of the race, we had it running fast laps before the
rear-end gearing broke on us. (Crew chief) Joe Shear and the
guys will have it back and running hopefully even better at
Atlanta this weekend. It’s a fast track and there are multiple
fast lines around it. We’ll have special guests on hand from
Flagstar Bank, Smith Transport, and Honda’s Power Equipment
Division from just up the road. And thanks to Wiley X, we’ll be
paying a special tribute to the Disabled American Veterans. So
we’ll just have to put on our best show of the year. We’re due.”
PRE-RACE SCHEDULE (All Times EST) – NBS Practice, Friday,
12:15-1:20 p.m.; NBS Final Practice, Friday, 2:20-3:20 p.m; NBS
Qualifying, Saturday, 12:10 p.m. (Tape delayed on SPEED-TV
beginning at 1 p.m.).
AARON FIKE BIO/BACKGROUND
Birthdate: November 24, 1982
Hometown: Galesburg, Ill.
Residence: Cornelius, N.C.
Marital Status: Single
Children: None
Twenty-three-year-old Aaron Fike is one of the latest in a long
line of standout driving talents from the ultra-competitive
United States Auto Club ranks. In 2006, Fike is slated to drive
the full NASCAR Busch Series season for the CAPG Dodge team.
Fike competed in 37 NASCAR Busch Series races in 2004 and 2005,
sharing time behind the wheel of entries by Brewco Motorsports
and the Curb Agajanian Performance Group (CAPG). In 2005, Fike
raced to a career-high finish of eighth at Pikes Peak
International Raceway in July, and a top qualifying effort of
fourth at Nashville in June. He has established himself as one
of the most diverse drivers in the country by racing in all
three USAC divisions, the Infiniti Pro Series, the ARCA RE/MAX
series and the NASCAR Busch Series over the last two seasons.
In 2003, Fike successfully defended the National Midget Driver
of the Year title he earned in 2002, becoming the first
back-to-back winner. He won four times in the USAC Midget Series
in 2003, including the 58th renewal of the
prestigious “Night Before the 500,” and he won his second race
on the Infiniti Pro Series Tour. Fike also made two late-season
starts in the ARCA RE/MAX series in 2003.
During an outstanding 2002 season, Fike was picked to drive in
the Indy Racing League’s Infiniti Pro Series. Proving to be a
quick study, he immediately won during his rookie year in the
rear-engined car. Fike won seven times in the Midget Series
that year enroute to the Badger Midget Racing Association
Championship. He also has the distinction of being the 2001
USAC Silver Crown Rookie of the Year, breaking Jeff Gordon’s
record as the youngest winner in the series, and was also the
2000 USAC National Midget Series Rookie of the Year.
Career Highlights
2006 Started first full-time NASCAR Busch Series
season in the #43 Curb Agajanian Performance Group Dodge.
Qualified on the front row (outside pole) at the season-opening
Hershey’s Kissables 300 at Daytona.
2005 Made 24 NASCAR Busch Series starts with a best
finish of eighth at Pikes Peak and best qualifying effort of
fourth at Nashville.
2004
Made NASCAR
Busch Series debut at Rockingham; finished 17th at Fall Dover
NBS race.
2003
National
Midget Driver of the Year; Won World Championship Midget
feature in Auckland, New Zealand; ; Auckland; Won IRL Infiniti
Pro Series race at Pikes Peak; Won 58th “Night Before
the 500” Midget race at IRP; Won One Feature with the Badger
Midget Association; Finished Ninth in ARCA RE/MAX Series event
at South Boston.
2002
National
Midget Driver of the Year; Badger Midget Racing Association
Champion; Won Infiniti Pro Series race at Chicagoland; Seven
Midget feature wins during the season.
2001 USAC Silver Crown Series Rookie of the Year;
Youngest driver to ever win a Silver Crown event with win at
Richmond … record previously held by Jeff Gordon; Finished 10th
in series points.
