SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) A.J. Fike raced to his first ARCA Racing Series victory Sunday, holding off Kyle Weatherman at the Illinois State Fairgrounds.
From Galesburg, the 35-year-old Fike became the first Illinois driver to win the event since Justin Allgaier in 2006.
''I'm kind of at a loss for words right now,'' Fike said.
Fike led 60 of the 104 laps in his Ford on the mile oval. He had a nearly 7-second lead with 10 laps to go, then survived a late restart to beat Weatherman by 0.759 seconds.
''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, followed by Springfield driver Kelly Kovski, Josh Williams and Tom Hessert.
Series points leader Grant Enfinger was 20th.
