Steve Arpin Heads to ARCA Season Finale at Rockingham with Eyes on the Prize |
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Topics: Steve Arpin, ARCA RE/MAX American 200
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Emily Teeter
Venturini Motorsports
October 8, 2009
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA (October 8, 2009) Steve Arpin is ready to take on one of the toughest old race tracks in the business this weekend when the ARCA RE/MAX series heads to Rockingham, North Carolina. The historic one mile high-banked oval plays host to Sunday's 'American 200' where Arpin is focused on bringing his Venturini Motorsports team to the winner's circle. With a solid full year of ARCA action now under Arpin's belt, he'll be giving it his best shot to close out the season with what could be the Ontario, Canada racer's first series win of his young and rising career.
Arpin ended last Thursday afternoon's run at Kansas Speedway with an eighth place finish, good enough to move the young Canadian racing talent up to sixth place in the ARCA driver's championship. Although it was Arpin's eleventh top-10 run of the season, the final rundown is no indication of just how strong Arpin drove the Mundy Ranch sponsored Venturini Motorsports entry. The 2009 numbers game took another turn, of sorts for the talented racer from Fort Frances, Ontario at the Kansas Speedway event. During the last half of this season Arpin has piloted the number 25 car for Venturini Motorsports, but a one-off deal for the event placed Arpin's teammate Jesse Smith in the #25 entry and moved Arpin into the number 15 Venturini Motorsports ride. Due to the fact that qualifying was rained out, the starting grid was aligned by owner's points and that would ironically place Arpin starting in the 25th position for the 'Kansas Lottery 150' versus starting 8th had he been in the 25 car for the event.
When the green flag waved to start the event, Arpin was not detered by his starting spot and immediately went to work moving up through the field. In just the first three laps, Arpin had slice his way up to 17th picking up eight spots when the yellow flag came out for the first time of the day on lap four. Arpin lit the fuse again on the Mundy Ranch / Pinewood Sports & Marine number 15 when green flag action resumed and had moved into the top-ten by the fifteenth lap, using the high side of the race track to blitz past competitors in three-wide fashion.
After the event's third caution period Arpin had improved twenty positions and into the top-five by lap 35. After pitting during the fourth caution flag of the day, Arpin restarted in ninth spot on lap 45 and would reel in several competitors to close in again on the leaders and battle with Frank Kimmel for the fifth spot for the next thirty laps.
A late race caution period occured on lap 94 which would result in a number of cars pitting for fresh tires, and set up a wild scramble in the race's green-white-checkered conclusion. As the field raced across the stripe, Arpin would be scored in the 8th spot at the finish line.
Arpin's efforts at Kansas featured Mundy Ranch as the primary partner on the Venturini Motorsports car. Mundy Ranch is a unique property located in the Charma River Valley region of the Rocky Mountains in New Mexico. Visit http://www.mundyranch.com/ to learn more about the rare recreational living opportunities at Mundy Ranch. Arpin's final run of the season-long ARCA driver's championship will come next weekend when the series heads to historic Rockingham Speedway in Rockingham, North Carolina for the running of the 'American 200'. The event will be broadcast on a taped-delayed basis and shown the same evening at 10 pm (Eastern) on SPEED TV. Arpin's season has seen signs of brilliance for the maturing stock car pilot with solid top-five finishes and runs at the front of the pack in his ARCA efforts. Action gets underway at 'The Rock' Saturday (Oct 10th) with a practice session from 11:30-1:00 (Eastern) followed by time-trial qualifying at 2:30 (Eastern). Live updates, complete with timing and scoring will be available throughout the weekend at http://www.arcaracing.com/ with the green flag scheduled to wave on the 'American 200' on Sunday (Oct 11) 1t 1:00 pm (Eastern). Tickets are available for the return to Rockingham Speedway, which always features spectacular racing at the famed one mile high-banked facility. Visit http://www.rockinghamracewaypark.com/ for complete event information.
During the past five years, the young Fort Frances, Ontario native 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 http://www.stevearpin.net/