The 27 year-old Arpin, who lists Fort Frances, Ontario as his hometown, will come to Toronto directly from an ARCA Series test at Daytona to discuss his career, as well as his plans and hopes for the upcoming 2011 stock car racing season. Arpin will also be participating in the Inside Track Readers’ Choice Awards presentations on Saturday evening at the CME (starts at 6:45 p.m.).
No stranger to the Winner’s Circle, Arpin started his competitive career with seven snowmobile World Championships before switching his focus to four-wheeled, dirt track competition. Innumerable race wins and championships followed as Arpin campaigned his #00 Dirt Modified throughout Ontario and the mid-western United States. A three-season stretch of consecutive race wins at his home track, Emo Speedway, resulted in a competitive ‘bounty’ being placed on his head, but the challenge went unclaimed as Arpin’s success continued.
Eventually heading to the heart of NASCAR country, Arpin settled in North Carolina and was befriended by Sprint Cup star Carl Edwards. Offered a ride in Edwards’ Silver Crown car, Arpin went on to earn the USAC Rookie of the Year award in 2008.
He then moved to the ARCA series, first with Eddie Sharp Racing and then with (Billy) Venturini Motorsports (in 2009). That effort resulted in a seventh-place, year-end points effort and his first of two ARCA Most Popular Driver awards. Returning to the ARCA Series last year with a limited schedule, Arpin piloted his #55 Mike’s Hard Lemonade Toyota to three race victories (DuQuoin, Texas and Salem) and 10 top 10 finishes.
That success opened the door to seven NASCAR Nationwide Series starts for Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s JR Motorsports (driving both the #7 and #88 Chevrolets), where Arpin scored a top-10 finish in the Subway Jalapeno 250 event. Last season, Arpin was backed by Canadian-based Mike’s Hard Lemonade.
Said Arpin of his drives for JR Motorsports, “Nationwide was definitely an eye-opener, I learned so much in those seven races, watching and following Carl (Edwards), Kyle (Busch) and Brad (Keselowski), I learned something every lap. And that experience paid dividends when I returned to the ARCA series.”
Usually reluctant to get out of a racecar, Arpin is nevertheless excited about his first-ever visit to Toronto. “We have an incredible fan base in Canada, and their support is what makes the effort worthwhile. It will be so cool to be able to meet some of them, shake their hands, sign some autographs and thank them for their interest.”
ABOUT THE CME: The Canadian Motorsports Expo is a three-day celebration of Canadian racing that runs January 21, 22 and 23, 2011 at the International Centre (6900 Airport Road in Mississauga). The show is powered by Inside Track Motorsport News. In addition to booths and racing vehicles representing the entire spectrum of Canadian motorsports, the show is loaded with seminars and forums to entertain and inform racers and fans alike. Star drivers, including reigning IndyCar Series Champion and Indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti, rising NASCAR Sprint Cup star Brad Keselowski, Canadian racing champions Ron Fellows, Junior Hanley, DJ Kennington and many others, will be at the CME to sign autographs and meet the fans. Please check the show’s website regularly for updates and changes.
For more information about the Canadian Motorsports Expo, visit www.canadianmotorsportsexpo.com. You can reach co-promoters Glenn Butt at (905) 721-1762 or Inside Track at (416) 962-7223 or email info@canadianmotorsportsexpo.com.
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