Fike's Day Ends
Early in Memphis
MEMPHIS, TN (October
22) - Aaron Fike,
driver of the #66
Cottonelle® Ford
Taurus, started 5th
and finished 35th
in the Sam's Town 250
at Memphis Motorsports
Park. Fike, who was
making his seventh
start of the season
for Brewco Motorsports
Inc., was caught up in
a late race accident,
sending the young
driver behind the wall
for the remainder of
the afternoon.
In only
his second career
start at the 0.75-mile
Memphis Motorsports
Park, Aaron Fike
showed the skill and
experience of a
seasoned veteran.
With limited practice
time on Friday, the
22-year old driver
helped dial in the #66
Cottonelle® Ford for
Saturday's 250 lap
event. With guidance
from crew chief Newt
Moore, Fike fine-tuned
his line around the
racetrack. "Aaron is
doing a great job for
us this weekend. Even
though he doesn't have
as much experience as
some of the other
drivers in the field,
he is really holding
his own. We've got
the car running really
well on long runs, so
we should be in good
shape come tomorrow,"
Moore added.
With
Busch Pole qualifying
and the 250 lap race
both scheduled for
Saturday, Team Brewco
#66 had more than
their fair share of
work cut our for
them. Despite early
concerns that a late
qualifying draw might
effect their starting
position, Aaron Fike
came through big
during morning time
trials. Just minutes
after teammate David
Green secured the
sixth place starting
spot, Fike busted off
the fifth fastest lap
of the day. "That was
an awesome lap. Newt
and the guys did a
great job turning this
car around. We left a
little on the table,
but should be good
once the green flag
drops," Fike said.
After a
little break in
action, Team Brewco
prepared for the
afternoon's race. At
the drop of the green
flag, Fike held his
own running
comfortably inside of
the top-ten. When
asked how his car was
handling, he radioed,
"I'm a little tight on
exit, but pretty
decent in the middle
of the corners."
Following the rest of
the lead lap cars,
Fike made his first of
several stops on lap
34. With four fresh
tires and a freed up
racecar, he returned
to racing action in 12th
place.
While
the changes proved
successful at first,
Fike continued to
struggle with an
ill-handling race
car. With his hands
full, the young driver
did his best to hold
onto a top-20
position. Team Brewco
made their second stop
of the day on lap
104. After adding
three rounds of wedge
in the left rear and
four tires, Fike would
restart the race in 19th
place. As a result of
poor track position,
Fike fell one lap down
to race leader Clint
Bowyer on lap 160.
Fortunately, the
caution flag fell a
few laps later and
Fike was the "lucky
dog."
Back on
the lead lap, Team
Brewco made their
final stop of the
afternoon on lap 171.
Poised to go the
distance and secure a
solid top-15 finish,
Aaron Fike found
himself in a
three-wide battle for
position. After
several close calls,
Fike was ultimately
caught up in an
accident on lap 204.
"They
started spinning in
front of me, so I
checked up. I guess
the guy behind me
didn't react in time
and ran over me.
We're done for the
day, which is a
shame. This car was
just starting to come
in, and we had enough
fuel to go the
distance. I hate for
our day to end this
way," Fike added.
Next
up, Team Brewco #66
heads to Texas Motor
Speedway for the
O'Reilly 300 on
Saturday, November 5th.
TNT and MRN will
provide live coverage
of the event beginning
at 2:00pm EDT.
