A. J. Henriksen (born March 27, 1979) is an American professional
stock car racing
Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It ori ...
driver. He has previously competed in the
ARCA Racing Series
The ARCA Menards Series is an American stock car series, the premier division of the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA). It is considered a minor, semi-professional league of stock car racing, used as a feeder series into the three national ...
from 1995 to 2017.
Early life
Henriksen was born in Chicago, Illinois on March 27, 1979, to parents Arne and Barbara Henriksen. He frequently participated in skateboarding competitions and even received sponsorship opportunities from these competitions.
Racing career
Henriksen first gained an interest in racing when he began attending races with his father, and eventually was given the choice to move to San Diego, California to pursue a skateboarding career or a racing career. He subsequently chose the latter, and began racing in go-karts before progressing to late models, more prominently at
Concord Motorsports Park. He also raced in various series such as the
USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series
The CARS Solid Rock Carriers Tour (formerly known as the USARacing Pro Cup Series, USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series, CARS Pro Cup Series, Rev-Oil Pro Cup Series, CARS X1-R Pro Cup Series) is a stock car auto racing series in the United States. It is s ...
, American Truck Series.
Henriksen first raced in the then
ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series in 1995 at the age of 16, driving for his father's family-owned team racing in two races that year at
Owosso Speedway
Owosso Speedway is a , progressively banked oval Short track motor racing, short track located east of Ovid, Michigan, between Ovid and Owosso, Michigan, Owosso, further east.
Track History
In 1939 the Owosso Speedway opened as a dirt oval. The ...
and
Salem Speedway
Salem Speedway is a long paved oval racetrack in Washington Township, Washington County, near Salem, Indiana, United States, approximately south of Indianapolis. The track has 33° degrees of banking in the corners. Major auto racing series ...
. After racing in a combined 11 races (including three top-10 finishes) in the next four seasons, Henriksen expanded his schedule in
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
, entering in ten races (while failing to qualify for two), and achieving his first top-5 at
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...
with a 3rd place finish. He would compete in twelve of the twenty-five races in
2001
The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
, finishing in the top-10 seven times with a best finish of 4th in Salem. In
2002
File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
, he would finish in the top five twice, and the same would said in
2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
, which his most notable highlights being his runner-up finish at
Charlotte
Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...
and when he led 30 laps at
Chicagoland Speedway
Chicagoland Speedway is a tri-oval speedway in Joliet, Illinois, southwest of Chicago. The speedway opened in 2001 and actively hosted NASCAR racing including the NASCAR Cup Series until 2019. Until 2010, the speedway has also hosted the IndyC ...
before finishing 20th due to cutting a tire late in the race. He would finish a career-best 19th in the points standings in the latter season.
In 2004, Henriksen would downsize his schedule only running in 7 races, finishing in the top-10 three times. It was also during this year that Henriksen attempted to make his
Nextel Cup
The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. ...
debut at
Pocono Raceway
Pocono Raceway (formerly Pocono International Raceway), also known as ''The Tricky Triangle'', is a superspeedway located in the Pocono Mountains in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. It is the site of three NASCAR national series races and an ARCA M ...
in August, driving the No. 90
Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
for
Junie Donlavey
Wesley Christian "Junie" Donlavey Jr. (April 8, 1924June 9, 2014), a native of Richmond, Virginia, was the owner of Donlavey Racing; he began fielding the team in 1950. He drove for his team at first, but soon gave way to other drivers. Donlavey ...
. He unfortunately failed to qualify for the event however, in what was the final attempt for
Donlavey Racing
Donlavey Racing was a stock car racing team that competed from 1950 until 2002 in the NASCAR NASCAR Cup Series, Winston Cup Series. It was owned by Junie Donlavey and ran a total of 863 races in NASCAR. Donlavey Racing used a number of makes and n ...
before closing down. He would remain in ARCA for the next four years, driving a majority of his races with his family owned team while driving for other teams.
After a two-year hiatus from the series, Henriksen would return in
2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
, driving for his family owned team again in two events, failing to qualify at
Indianapolis
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
and finishing 11th at Salem. He would then run 6 races through 2012 and 2013 driving for
Venturini Motorsports
Venturini Motorsports is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East, and ARCA Menards Series West. Founded in 1982 by Bill Venturini Sr., Venturini Motorsports is t ...
.
For 2014, Henriksen would not compete in ARCA, but would compete in the
Trans Am Series
The Trans-Am Series is a sports car racing series held in North America. Founded in 1966, it is sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA).
Primarily based in the United States, the series competes on a variety of track types includin ...
, finishing third at
New Jersey Motorsports Park
New Jersey Motorsports Park is a road course "Motorsports Entertainment Complex" located in Millville, Cumberland County, New Jersey, United States. It has hosted races since opening in 2008 and currently hosts a schedule including MotoAmerica P ...
.
In 2017, Henriksen would make one more ARCA start, driving the No. 75
Toyota
is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...
for
Bob Schacht at
Road America
Road America is a motorsport road course located near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, United States on Wisconsin Highway 67. It has hosted races since the 1950s and currently hosts races in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, WeatherTech SportsCar Champ ...
, where he started 15th and finished 16th after being involved in a crash on the final lap. He has not run an ARCA race since then, and currently races in the Grand National Super Series, a series where he was crowned the series champion in 2022 with six wins, eleven runner-up finishes and nineteen top three finishes throughout the year.
Personal life
Henriksen currently resides in
Dundee Township, Illinois.
Motorsports career results
NASCAR
(
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
) (
Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Nextel Cup Series
ARCA Racing Series
(
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
) (
Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
K&N Pro Series East
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henriksen, A. J.
1979 births
Living people
Racing drivers from Chicago
NASCAR drivers
ARCA Menards Series drivers