Mitch Calvert
Steve Arpin’s finish at Sunday’s ARCA RE/MAX American 200 circuit championship at the Rockingham Speedway summed up his first season on tour.
The Fort Frances native led for a stretch of laps during the race, and was no worse than third at any point until a transmission failure ended his day on Lap 161.
He finished 34th.
If he didn’t have bad luck, he’d have no luck at all.
“It was our race to win and it was just one of those deals,” Arpin lamented.
“A mechanical failure. There’s not much you can do about that.
“I’m starting to get too used to it, though, that’s the problem,” he added.
The two-horse race for the ARCA championship came down to the wire, with Parker Kligerman winning Sunday but losing the points battle by five points to Justin Lofton.
Kligerman led the final 64 laps en route to his ninth win of the season, but Lofton finished third to take the overall title.
It was the third-closest finish in series history.
Arpin’s up-and-down inaugural ARCA campaign ended with a seventh-place finish in the overall standings (4,575 points).
“We learned a lot, had a really good year,” Arpin enthused. “The best decision I ever made in my life was switching to Venturini Motorsports [from Eddie Sharp Racing].
“We have lots of stuff in the works for next year, but it’s just a matter of getting them done now,” he added.
Arpin will keep the pedal to the metal throughout the winter, with his next stop on a dirt track at the “Duel in the Desert” in Las Vegas next month.
He also plans to compete in a 15-km race in Tucson, Ariz. at the end of November.
Arpin will be at Lowe’s Motor Speedway for the NASCAR races this weekend.
“We’re going to be racing all year long. Not really going to have an off-season,” he remarked.
He’s also signed on for the first race of the 2010 ARCA season with Venturini Motorsports.
“We’re going to do Daytona, for sure,” Arpin pledged. “We’re working hard right now securing some sponsorship stuff.”
