Mitch Calvert
It’s been a whirlwind summer for Fort Frances native Steve Arpin.
Despite a string of four-straight top-10 finishes on the ARCA RE/MAX Series, the 25-year-old likely is nearing the end of his tenure with Eddie Sharp Racing unless some funding can be secured following this Saturday’s Wolverine Power Systems 200 at Berlin Raceway in Marne, Mich.
“Unfortunately, Steve has been unable to secure the necessary funding for him to continue past Berlin,” team owner Eddie Sharp said in a release late last week.
“He’s a talented racer and we wish him the best.”
But Arpin said Monday the expectation is for his team to continue with the rest of the ARCA schedule—with or without ESR.
“We’ll definitely be at Pocono [for the Pennsylvania ARCA 200 on Aug. 1], but we just might not be in the same car,” Arpin stressed.
“We’ve got some people from all over starting to show some interest and come on board, especially with the finishes we’ve had lately.
“There’s some people in Fort Frances, not going to mention any names, that are jumping up and possibly getting involved with the program to help us keep on going,” he enthused.
Arpin’s first season on the ARCA circuit has been a tumultuous one, but some growing pains were to be expected on unfamiliar tracks with an unfamiliar car and race program.
The adjustment period has shown results lately, with Arpin having since moved up to seventh place in the points standings with 2,285 after 11 races, including a fifth-place finish at Mansfield in late June and a sixth-place showing this past Saturday at the Click it or Ticket Buckle-Up Kentucky 150.
“It was actually good for what we expected going into it,” Arpin said of his latest race, which had him slotted in 15th to start. “We were struggling real bad in practice and qualifying.
“[But] we took a shot in the dark and made a whole lot of adjustments throughout the race and the car got a little bit better,” he noted. “[And] we took a different pit strategy to get track position and it played out in our favour.
“We had a 15th-place car and got a sixth-place finish, so for what we had to work with, it turned out real good.”
Arpin said his recent results are just the tip of the iceberg—and shutting things down now simply isn’t an option.
“We have a really bright future in this deal and a lot of opportunities to come in the future, so we just really need to capitalize on what we’ve got going right now,” he stressed.
“I believe I’ve really stepped up to the plate fast, and the opportunities that are starting to come up right now are from people who have noticed what we’ve been doing.
“If everything goes right and things come through with the people who are talking about supporting us, then we’re going to have the rest of the season, for sure,” Arpin added.
“Then we’ll have some really exciting news for next year, but we’re only scratching the surface right now.”
Arpin always has thrived on dirt tracks going back to his three-year reign atop the Emo Speedway circuit when he won every feature race, and only made the transition to asphalt last year.
Needless to say, Arpin has had two ARCA races in particular circled on his calendar, with the Allen Crowe 100 in Springfield, Ill. (Aug. 23) and the Southern Illinois 100 in DuQuoin, Ill. (Sept. 7) taking place on dirt tracks.
“For me, that’s the most important part of the schedule and I’m looking forward to that,” Arpin said.
“We’re hoping to have everything in place and secured before then,” he remarked.
