Steve Arpin, the world’s most successful rallycross driver is in his element when he’s behind the wheel of a vehicle barreling around an outdoor course at breakneck speeds. The American loves speed and adrenaline pumping action in every form; this was evident during Nitro Rallycross where he took home $12K for winning.
Steve Arpin has been a professional rallycross racer for a long time. He has won the World Rallycross Championship twice, and he is still racing today. Steve Arpin Embraces the ‘Thrill’ of Nitro Rallycross.
Loenbro Motorsports/Josh Tons In Phoenix, Steve Arpin participates in Nitro Rallycross.
During the November 13-14 weekend at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park, Kyle Busch made headlines as the first NASCAR driver to compete in Nitro Rallycross, but he wasn’t the only stock car driver to do so. Steve Arpin transitioned to Rallycross in 2013 and has continued to hunt for victories while enjoying a new sort of adrenaline rush.
Since switching from stock car racing to rallycross, the experienced driver has made 54 starts, three victories, and 13 podiums. He began his career with Chip Ganassi Racing and currently drives for Loenbro Motorsports, with HempFusion as his principal sponsor on his Hyundai i20.
“It’s really awesome to me,” Arpin said in an interview with Heavy on November 13. “It’s like I’m up here racing against Travis Pastrana.” “And HempFusion believes in someone like me.” SCT [Performance], Yokohama [Tires], and the rest of them.
“It’s a lot of fun.” It’s incredible to be able to work with such well-known brands and goods from around the country, and to have these corporations believe in someone like me who is just pursuing my aspirations… It’s one of those things where it’s so simple to talk about a product — and we urge others to buy it since we use it ourselves every day. So that’s what I like about our collaborators.”
Arpin placed this purpose-built supercar on full show at the Nitro Rallycross weekend in Arizona. During one of the finest heat races of the season, he held off Jamaican driver Fraser McConnell, and then he joined Travis Pastrana in a head-to-head battle bracket that wrapped out Saturday’s action. He put on these shows despite still learning the ins and outs of a vehicle he had only driven once the day before the season-opening journey to Utah.
“So the main thing for me has been trying to figure it out because it’s just a new everything,” Arpin stated. “However, I believe it’s one of those situations in which we have nothing to lose, right?” So we’re just going for it and having a good time. And I bet we’re the most laid-back, good-natured bunch in the pits. That, I believe, is why we’re doing so well.”
Before leaving, Arpin was a successful stock car driver.
Getty In 2011, Steve Arpin won the pole position at Chicagoland Speedway.
Arpin put his abilities to the test against some of the top stock car drivers before embarking on a successful Rallycross career. From 2009 to 2012, he competed in the ARCA Menards Series, Camping World Truck Series, and Xfinity Series before moving on to other forms of racing.
In nine Xfinity outings, Arpin has two top-10 results, split between JR Motorsports and Turner Motorsports. In 2011, he also competed in the Truck Series for Turner Motorsports, gaining one pole position and finishing 12th overall.
Arpin has the most starts (42) and the most wins in the ARCA Menards Series. While racing for Venturini Motorsports and competing against drivers like Grant Enfinger and Justin Marks, who now runs Trackhouse Racing, he won three races and had 11 top-five finishes and 21 top-10 finishes.
While Arpin had some success in NASCAR early on, there are still issues regarding why he chose Rallycross over stock car racing. The answer may be found by contrasting the two racing methods and how they make him feel on a weekly basis.
“I’ve been doing this for six years now, and every time I perform a launch, I still get the same s***-eating smile,” Arpin remarked. “Like NASCAR — this was before mobile phone laws — I went down to Daytona in ARCA and we were qualifying at like 190 mph.” I recorded my qualification lap and finished fourth, I believe. As a result, you get used to traveling at speeds of 190-200 miles per hour. But you get the same excitement every time with them.”
While racing in NASCAR is “fun,” Arpin says the Nitro Rallycross series allows him to repeat the jumps he did as a kid. The seasoned driver used to make his toys leap over each other, and now he makes a living doing it in real life.
“I’m simply a youngster from Canada with no name,” Arpin said. “I’m sitting here with Travis Pastrana, high-fiving and ecstatic. And now I’ve got Kyle Busch, who is perhaps one of the most skilled racecar drivers I’ve ever met, asking me about the racetrack and everything.”
Will Arpin and Busch be followed by other NASCAR drivers?
Loenbro Motorsports/Josh Tons Steve Arpin is getting ready to compete in a Nitro Rallycross competition.
Scott Speed and Arpin both made the transition to Rallycross and were successful. Sage Karam, a former IndyCar and NASCAR driver, is racing in the Nitro Rallycross Next series and has won three races in a row. Conor Daly, one of IndyCar’s most popular drivers, also attended the event after receiving an invitation from Pastrana.
Nitro Rallycross, as Arpin noted, has become a haven for drivers from all over the world. There are drivers that have competed in motocross, NASCAR, IndyCar, Formula One, and a variety of other sports. If Pastrana’s attempts to attract more drivers work out, there will be even more supercars and tremendous leaps to test in the near future.
Arpin is unsure whether this trend will continue, with more drivers switching to part-time or full-time work. He does know, though, that Rallycross has had a tremendous influence on him from the first time he hopped inside the vehicle.
“Let me put it this way: after my first Rallycross event, I contacted my father and informed him – it was in Brazil, of all places,” Arpin said. “I flew to Brazil the following day and raced the next day.” After that, I contacted my father. I haven’t had so much fun racing since it was just him and me when I was still living at home and had no idea how pricey things were. “I was 14-15 years old at the time.”
Arpin continues to seize the chance that has been presented to him throughout the years. While jumping the HempFusion Hyundai around purpose-built courses, he competes against some of the world’s most gifted drivers.
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Steve Arpin, a professional rallycross driver from the United States, has been competing in Nitro Rallycross for a while now. He is known for his aggressive driving style and quick reactions. Reference: steve arpin instagram.
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