Lucas Punkari
After having to wait until the beginning of May last year to announce his plans for the 2011 racing season, Fort Frances native Steve Arpin is making sure he won’t have to wait as long to get back behind the wheel on the NASCAR circuit this year.
The 28-year-old currently is putting the finishing touches on a deal for the 2012 season, which he’s hoping to have completed later this week—with an official announcement coming early next month.
“I can’t say much about it yet, but I know I’m excited about the news and I hope everyone else is as excited as I am when I will be able to tell everyone about what we are doing,” Arpin said.
While not able to disclose any information about which of NASCAR’s three national touring series (Sprint Cup, Nationwide, and Camping World Truck Series) he would be competing in, Arpin did say he would be bringing back Mike’s Hard Lemonade as a sponsor and also be returning to the Turner Motorsports team.
“The relationship with Mike’s [Hard Lemonade] has been a real strong relationship over the last few years, and that comes from all of the support that we’ve had from everyone back home and across the country who are going out buying a six-pack or 12-pack of Mike’s and watching the races,” Arpin said.
“We’ve also had a great working relationship with Turner Motorsports from last year, and we’re looking forward to continuing that again with them this year.
“We’ll be racing a lot more this year than we had last year, and Mike’s has a lot of new brands and products that will be coming out that will make this deal pretty exciting,” he added.
Last season, Arpin had a brief five-race stint with Turner Motorsports in the Camping World Truck Series, where he had a best finish of 12th at the Kentucky Speedway in July.
He also became the first Canadian driver in 12 years to start on the pole in a Truck Series race at the Chicagoland Speedway back in September.
After his set of races in the Truck Series came to an end, Arpin has been hard at work getting everything set up for the 2012 campaign.
“It has been absolutely crazy,” he remarked.
“I know I talk about this all the time, but there is so much that goes into these programs and into making sure that your i’s are dotted and your t’s are crossed, so that everything runs seamlessly through the course of the season.
“A lot of people might think that you get a long off-season, where you get to have a lot of time to relax, but it’s actually a lot busier than you think,” he stressed.
Still, Arpin was able to find some time to make a couple of visits back to Fort Frances over the winter, where he was able to see his niece, Peyton, who was born last June.
“She’s definitely the cutest baby I have ever seen, but I have no idea where she got the looks from as it’s not from her dad [Steve’s brother, Chuck Jr.],” he joked.
This week, though, Arpin will be getting back to his roots in the world of dirt-track racing, competing in the Modified division at Volusia Speedway Park during the annual DIRTCar Nationals, which coincides with Speedweeks at the Daytona International Speedway.
Arpin will be splitting time behind the wheel with Sprint Cup driver David Stremme, who owns the Modified, during the course of the Nationals, which got underway last night.
“I have no idea how that’s going to go but it’s going to be pretty interesting,” he said.
“Since I’ve been getting all of the NASCAR stuff all locked down here lately, I haven’t had a chance to do anything on the Modified, and it’s actually been my dad [Chuck] and my friend, Adrian Gordon, who have been doing a lot of the work on it to get things ready.
“I’ve only seen this car for 15 minutes myself, that’s how busy I’ve been,” he laughed.
The half-mile oval, which is located about a half-hour east of Daytona International Speedway, has been a successful place for Arpin in the past, however, winning seven races during the 2007 Nationals.
“Hopefully, we will be able to get back to the winner’s circle once or twice,” he remarked.
“But the main thing David and I are trying to do is to just go out there and have some fun as we will be alternating who’s driving during the week.
“I guess you could say we are kind of winging it.”
When he’s not behind the wheel of his dirt car, Arpin will be at New Smyrna Speedway—a half-mile paved oval a half-hour south of Daytona Beach, where he will be helping out young Estevan, Sask. Modified driver Riley Emmel.
“I’ll be doing some spotting duties for him while I’m there, along with being a driving coach for him, as well, as he tries to break into the asphalt scene down there,” Arpin said of his role with Emmel, who is splitting time in a Late Model during Speedweeks with short-track sensation Kyle Larson.
“It’s great to be helping a young Canadian guy out, as well, as we need to try and get those numbers up down here,” Arpin added.
