Lucas Punkari
It’s been nearly four months since his last race, which was the ARCA season-opener at Daytona.
But for Fort Frances native Steve Arpin, his long wait is about to come to an end as he’ll take to the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway in his #32 Mike’s Hard Lemonade-sponsored Chevrolet Silverado tomorrow morning for a practice session prior to Friday night’s WinStar World Casino 400k NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” Arpin enthused.
“We’ve been really busy trying to get everything put into place, and making sure our i’s are dotted and our t’s are crossed, but things are coming together well for us,” he added.
This weekend’s race not only will be the first for Arpin since the ARCA event in Daytona back in February, where he finished in 32nd after being involved in an multi-car accident, it also will mark the first time he’ll be behind the wheel of a truck in his career.
“It’ll be a lot of fun but it’ll also be a learning experience, for sure,” he reasoned.
“The tires, aero package, and geometry are completely different from anything that I have ever driven before,” he explained.
“But fortunately enough, I’ve been a pretty fast learner in anything that I’ve driven, so hopefully it’ll apply there.”
Another factor Arpin feels will help his transition into the Truck Series will be the fact he’s racing at one of his favourite tracks, where he picked up his first career ARCA victory last season.
“I think any track that you win on you’re going to love,” he said.
“There’s so much about Texas that makes it a unique track,” he added. “It’s the fastest on the circuit and I love speed.
“And when you walk into that place, it’s just jaw-dropping. It’s like if you were running out onto the field for the Super Bowl when you first go in there because of the size of the facility.
“As for as the track itself, it’s just so fast and it produces such good racing, that everything about it is just awesome,” Arpin remarked.
After a lengthy process during the start of the racing season, Arpin announced on May 3 that he had inked a five-race contract with Turner Motorsports, which was made public that evening on Speed Channel’s NASCAR Race Hub program.
“That was my first time ever doing a studio TV show, and to be honest with you it was a little bit nerve-wracking,” he admitted.
“You have about 30 to 40 people sitting there, and they are just all staring at you and then they say, ‘All right, action!’
“It was a really neat experience, though, and to walk into the studio and have my truck sitting there, just like I’ve seen when guys like Carl Edwards, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Clint Bowyer have been, and to be talking with someone like [host and pit reporter] Steve Byrnes, it’s just such a feeling off accomplishment,” he stressed.
Almost as soon as the announcement was made public, family and friends immediately sent along their well wishes and congratulations to Arpin, although some also were trying to see if the 27-year old would answer his phone on national television.
“We had actually filmed the interview a few hours before it aired, so it was pretty funny when my buddies were texting me trying to see if I would get it out of my pocket during my interview since it wasn’t live,” Arpin laughed.
After a quick “honeymoon phase” following the announcement, work began on getting Arpin’s program ready for the Texas race, which included convincing veteran crew chief Doug George to take charge of the pit box.
“He’s crew-chiefed for [four-time series champ] Ron Hornaday, and he’s been involved at Kevin Harvick Inc. for a long time,” Arpin noted.
“Doug’s a really good guy, he’s very intelligent, and I’m really looking forward to getting a chance to work with him.”
Arpin’s sponsor, Mike’s Hard Lemonade, also has been putting together a Sweepstakes program, where the winner will get an all-expense paid trip to Chicago in September to watch Arpin race in the Camping World Truck Series event at the Chicagoland Speedway, and also watch the first race in NASCAR’s “Chase” for the Sprint Cup championship.
“It’s a shame that we can’t have Canada involved this time,” Arpin said. “But because of the legalities and everything, it’s not an option for us at this point.”
On the track, Arpin is anxious to prove himself against the top drivers in the third-biggest of NASCAR’s touring series, which sees a mix of veteran competitors and up-and-coming talents.
“You don’t get up to this level of racing by accident,” he stressed.
“Guys like Hornaday and [defending series champ] Todd Bodine are always tough, and you now have former Formula One world champion Kimi Raikkonen coming in now, so there’s going to be all sorts of guys that will be up there.”
One of the drivers Arpin is looking forward the most to race against is motocross legend Ricky Carmichael, who will be a teammate of Arpin’s this weekend along with James Buescher.
“Ricky and I have developed a great friendship, and now to go out there and race with him is such a cool feeling,” Arpin said.
As for his expectations heading into Friday’s series debut, Arpin is keeping things realistic.
“Even though I obviously want to win, this is a learning weekend for us in getting acclimated to the series and having a good solid opening run,” he conceded.
“The most important thing will be to finish all of the laps,” he stressed. “If I get too aggressive or get involved in an accident, we’ll have to come into the garage to fix the truck, and I won’t be learning anything from that.
“I’ll also have to get acclimated really quick in practise, so I can feel what I need in the truck and also tell the crew what I need to be really competitive at the start of the race,” Arpin added.
“If we can finish with a top 10, that’ll be a good day for us, but a top-five run would be really good.”
Arpin’s next race in the Truck Series will be on Thursday, July 7 at the Kentucky Speedway.
