ARCA: Arpin to get NASCAR chance

ARCA race winner Steve Arpin will surrender his title chances for a run in the NASCAR Nationwide Series later this month.

The 26-year-old Venturini Motorsports driver currently lies eighth in the ARCA standings having won races in Salem and Texas earlier in the year, but will miss the rounds at Mansfield Motorsports Park and Pocono Raceway later in July as he takes on the clashing NASCAR Nationwide races at Gateway International Raceway and Iowa Speedway.

Arpin, who has five other Nationwide Series events under his belt in a JR Motorsport Chevrolet, admits that he has had to sacrifice his ARCA title hopes in order make the step up.

"This is one of those situations where an opportunity fell into my lap," Arpin said. "As important as everything in the ARCA series is to us, the long-term plan is for the JR Motorsports opportunity in front of us.”

Arpin also revealed that he has the full support of his ARCA team boss Billy Venturini, having discussed the situation with him before the season even started.

"Before we even talked about business and money and what it costs to go racing, Billy and I talked about if he can help achieve my goals and get exactly where I'm trying to go," Arpin said. "I laid out in front of him exactly what I wanted to do and he presented to me all the different ways he could help me."

Venturini described Arpin’s move as ‘a great thing’ despite losing his driver for two key rounds.

"That's what we're paid to do, what we're trained to do," Venturini said. "We're really happy that Steve's getting the opportunity. We just feel flattered that we've given him a platform to show his skills and that this all happened.

"Steve was very realistic, knowing what he had to learn, A to Z, to turn into a good Nationwide driver. He knew it took a little bit of time. It was very quick, though, considering the long-term ramifications it'll have on his career."

Despite foregoing his hopes of the drivers’ title, Arpin will return to the #55 Venturini Motorsport car after his NASCAR outings and, with dirt car racer Josh Richards taking his place at Mansfield and Pocono, is still targeting the owners’ title.

"We started out the season going for an ARCA championship, both on the driver and owner sides. We've got the program, we've got the people, and we've got the team to still go after that owner's championship and win that," he said.

"That would be really important to the Venturinis and it'd be a cool thing for me to be a part of, so we're really going to push hard for that."

Watch ARCA Racing Series highlights as part of Motors TV’s Winter Programming.


Andy Wilkinson

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