 (6-27-03) By Amanda Brahler - AJ Henriksen, driver of the #17 Fastenal-Engineered Components Ford, has had quite a season albeit in a part-time mode. With his solid qualifying runs and front-running finishes, many around the garage are pointing at the 24-year-old as a possible winner come season's end, and as one of the next-best candidates to move up. | In the six events he's run so far, the Mooresville, NC resident has impressed many. At the season opener in Daytona Henriksen scored an 11th place finish after starting mid-pack in 21st. At right: Not the timid type, Henriksen runs the highside, 3-wide at Daytona. |  | His best showing of the year came in May at the Lowe's Motor Speedway after starting 32nd; he dug in and steered his #17 Ford to a well-deserved fifth place effort. His career-best RE/MAX Series finish was third at Kentucky Speedway in 2000.
Henriksen, who drives under the banner of his father Arne, nonchalantly brushes off his on-track performance. "We've done pretty good. We've had some good runs."
Well, follow that up those good runs with another steady finish after crossing the stripe in 10th place at the Michigan Int'l Speedway and the Illinois native should finally give himself the full credit he deserves. After all, the phone is ringing for prospective jobs.
"There was one Busch team and one Truck team but they're not what you would call top caliber teams so I turned it down," he says.
The one-time extreme skateboarder who decided to give up the board to pursue racing says his reason for turning down the possible NASCAR opportunities were as easy as black and white; he doesn't want to become another statistic. | | "I've seen a lot of people move up to quick and now they're watching the races on TV it seems like they aren't really doing anything. |  | "When, and if, I do move up I'd rather do it with an established team that will make me look good rather then look bad and be doing nothing," he adds.
Of his long-term goals outside of ARCA he explains how the recent boom in the sport's popularity has taken away any desire to reach the prestigious Cup division. "I'd like to be in Busch full-time in the future. I don't really know if I want to be a full-time Winston Cup driver. I look ahead and think I wouldn't because of the pressure there. I don't know if I could go for all that."
Although the hustle of Cup life doesn't seem so illustrious to him, he says with certainty, "Definitely though, a full-time Truck or Busch deal is what I'm looking to do." | | Henriksen is currently one of only three guys who works full-time on his #17 machine. He hopes that although money is pinched, the guys can stick together, add more people and move up together. |  | "We were thinking about doing a part-time truck deal out of here next year. It would only be like five races. We'd have to hire more people."
Along with the possible Craftsman Truck Series entries, Henriksen is also planning to be full-time in the ARCA RE/MAX Series. "We planned on it this year but we ran out of money. We're working on it for next year. We'd like to run a full season."
Always looking ahead, the current part-timer is happy with his consistent runs so far this season and feels that a win is in the near future. In fact, the Chicago, Illinois native is hoping to give his hometown crowd a lot to cheer about when the RE/MAX Series hits the 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway in September. "I feel like I have a pretty good chance at Joliet. We're going to do quite a bit of testing there." If he does end up in victory lane, it wouldn't be much of a shock. One thing is for sure, if Henriksen follows the path he's been on this season, eyebrows will continue to raise at the sight of his #17. | | NOTE: In addition to his solid showings on the speedways, Henriksen has also been impressive on short-tracks with career-best finishes of 4th at Salem and 5th at Toledo. |  | Above right: Henriksen finished 10th in last year's ARCA RE/MAX Series race at South Boston. Henriksen has also filed an entry for this year's event at the renowned Virginia short-track on July 2. |
