STEVE ARPIN TAKES 5TH PLACE AT SALEM SPEEDWAY ARCA BATTLE |
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Topics: Steve Arpin, Kentuckiana Ford Dealers ARCA Fall Classic
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Emily Teeter
Venturini Motorsports
September 19, 2009
SALEM, INDIANA (September 19, 2009) Steve Arpin's 2009 ARCA RE/MAX Series season saw another top-five finish added to a year of success as the Canadian racing talent took the Venturini Motorsports Chevrolet to a solid 5th place run at Salem Speedway for the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers ARCA Fall Classic.
“We tested at Winchester Speedway on Thursday to shake down the car. After the test we knew that we were going to have a good car for Salem,” stated Arpin. “I was pretty excited to head back to Salem Speedway as it is one of the most intense short tracks on the ARCA schedule.”
The weekend’s excitement started early for the No.25 team when the Venturini Motorsports team van was hit by a city bus in downtown Indianapolis. The team was on the way to Salem, IN when a city bus turned right into the side of the van. The van suffered some right side damage, but everyone in the van was ok.
“It was pretty funny when the bus hit us, “stated Arpin. “Billy(Venturini)said it was a good omen to get in an accident before the race, so I guess we all just went along with that. “
After a great practice run for the team, Arpin was able to put the No.25 Jeff Taylor Motorsports Chevrolet starting 8th for the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers ARCA Fall Classic.
The young Canadian moved into 4th place after completing only 2 laps, but fought a loose car until the first caution flag flew and the entire field came down pit road. The No.25 team took 2 tires and made adjustments to tighten up the car.
“We were just riding after we took our right side tires to try and save our left sides as much as possible until we could come in and get four new tires. “said Arpin. “I love running at Salem, it’s just a fast, high banked, rough short track. It definitely keeps us drivers on top of our game all night long. Its hard on tires and with the limited tire rule, you have to really pace yourself while keeping good track position and staying out of trouble.”
Arpin battled to stay in the top 5 throughout the entire night and with only 35 laps remaining, the No.25 Jeff Taylor Motorsports Chevrolet came down and took four tires and adjustments to try and tighten the car up a little bit more for one last run. The car was great on the restart and the remaining laps posed a great battle between Arpin and veteran Frank Kimmel. The two raced side by side for the fourth place position and then the No. 25 car started to go away. Arpin did everything he could to hold onto the extremely loose car and fought for a fifth place finish.
“The car was a real handful at the end. It was everything I could do to keep it between the walls. We knew we had a problem, but just wanted to bring it home to a good solid top 5 finish,” said Arpin, driver of the Jeff Taylor Motorsports Chevrolet. After the race, we found out that our right rear tire had a hole and was losing air pressure doing those last laps.”
With just two sanctioned events remaining on the 2009 ARCA RE/MAX championship season, Arpin will be seeking to find victory lane in series action on SPEED TV with stops at Kansas Speedway (Oct 1st) and Rockingham Speedway (Oct 11th) as the final stops on this year's tour. Arpin's runs in the Venturini Motorsports team cars will see continued backing from Pinewood Sports & Marine as well as Arkansas based Jeff Taylor Motorsports an Open Wheel Modified Chassis building operation. Arpin, from Fort Frances, Ontario had hoped for a better result in the ARCA return to the testy Salem Speedway for the second time of the season, but felt that a top-five run should fuel the fires for stronger things to come in the year's closing pair of races.
“The guys on the No.25 team are incredible,” stated Canadian standout Steve Arpin. This has been a grueling month with the busy race and testing schedule and they never miss a beat. They deserve a win and we are going to get them one before the year is over.”
“We are testing Rockingham this week and heading back to Kansas next week. We have been real good on these tracks and Venturini's have these places figured out, it’s going to be a wild final two races here and you can count on the 25 Taylor Chassis Toyota being up front,” said Arpin.
Steve Arpin continues to turn in impressive results in his first full year of asphalt racing experience after several stellar seasons on dirt. During the past five years, the young stock car talent has become a dominant force in motorsports, earning numerous titles while racking up wins in his open wheel modified against the strongest competition in North America and attracting the attention of some of the sport’s biggest names to his racing program. Last season Arpin claimed the USAC Silver Crown Rookie of the Year award and prior to moving into auto racing Arpin earned 7 world championships in snowmobile competition as lead pilot for Team Polaris. Arpin’s role with Venturini Motorsports has seen the team turn in strong results. Arpin’s associates and sponsors at Pinewood Sports & Marine, and long-time sponsor and dirt racing partner Jeff Taylor with his Jeff Taylor Chassis for Open Wheel Modified racers continue to help fuel Arpin's ARCA program and future racing aspirations. Arpin's overall racing efforts also continue to involve support from Lo-N-Bro Enterprises and SpeedShop (Rochester, Minnesota) as continuing partners in the team efforts. The official web site for Steve Arpin on the internet is www.stevearpin.net