Staff
After becoming the first Canadian driver in 12 years to start on the pole in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, setting a track record in the process, Fort Frances driver Steve Arpin was hoping for a strong finish in his fifth and final start of the season for Turner Motorsports in the Fast Five 225 at the Chicagoland Speedway on Friday night.
Instead, Arpin’s #32 Mike’s Hard Lemonade Chevrolet finished the 150-lap affair in 16th place—a lap down behind winner Austin Dillon.
Having been passed on the opening lap of the race by Sprint Cup series driver Kevin Harvick, Arpin slid backwards soon afterwards.
And when the race went without a caution flag over the final 63 laps, he found himself unable to get back onto the lead lap.
While the finish itself was not what he was hoping for in his final start of the year, the qualifying session ended up being a special moment for the 27-year-old as he nabbed his first career Truck Series pole with a time of 30.768 seconds at a speed of 175.507 m.p.h.
Arpin’s lap broke the track record time set by Todd Bodine only a year ago.
It also made him the first Canadian driver since Ron Fellows in 1999 to set the fastest time in qualifying for a Truck Series event.
