Drug addict NASCAR driver pledges anti-drug campaign

The arrest of a NASCAR driver on drug charges may have at least temporarily tanked his promising career, but he says it probably saved his life – and inspired him to put together an anti-drug program dubbed "Racing Against Drugs."

Aaron Fike, arrested this summer after he and his girlfriend were caught with heroin at Kings Island amusement park in Mason, says he's serious about reviving his career. He's using his status to start a program to combat drug abuse among young people.

"One day, I was a NASCAR race car driver, with people asking me for my autograph – and the next day, I was in handcuffs, lying on the floor of a jail cell, going through the absolute agony of heroin withdrawal," Fike, 24, wrote in a statement prepared for a court hearing.

"After four months of intense rehabilitation, I know that if it were not for my arrest, I would be dead."

During one of his drug highs, Fike once stopped breathing and nearly died, his statement says, adding, "sooner or later, my luck would have run out."

As part of a plea deal that his lawyer, Charlie Rittgers of Lebanon, worked out, Fike avoided a jail sentence and felony conviction by pledging to start the non-profit group.

"The judge did something kind of creative with him, with our permission," said Warren County Prosecutor Rachel Hutzel.

Under the deal that Judge Neal Bronson accepted this month, Fike pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors – possession of a drug abuse instrument and a reduced charge of attempted possession of heroin. More at Cincinnati Enquirer