Former snowmobile racer and fan favorite Steve Arpin is back in the news in car racing circles, as it was announced this week that the Fort Frances, Ontario, native will compete in the X Games in Brazil on April 20 to kick off his full-time ride in the Global Rallycross Championship (GNC) series in 2013.
Aprin – a former snowmobile oval racer in the late 1990s and early 2000s – is scheduled to follow the appearance at the Foz do Iguacu Global X Games in Brazil in April with appearances at the Barcelona, Spain, X Games May 19 and the Munich, Germany, X Games on June 30. His schedule then brings him back to the U.S. to compete in competitions in New Hampshire, Tennessee, California (the Los Angeles X Games), Georgia, North Carolina and Nevada over the rest of the year.
While folks in the snowmobile industry may remember the personable teenage driver of the No. 00 Polaris race sleds on iced ovals (including a 7 class victories at the Eagle River World Championship), Aprin’s racing career has taken him all over the U.S. in more recent years. He now lives in North Carolina where he’s been pursuing his racing dreams.
Aprin successfully races modified and late model cars on dirt tracks across the country before being hired to drive Carl Edwards USAC Silver Crown Car and earning rookie of the year status in that series in 2008. He quickly moved to the ARCA Racing Series the following year, finishing the season seventh in points. He was also voted that series’ 2009 Most Popular Driver. In 2010 he earned three ARCA victories and also got a chance to race in seven NASCAR Nationwide Series events in a car owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr. That was followed by select appearances in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2011.
Now he returns to the dirt in stadium style rallycross competitions. Below is a press release on the move.
PRESS RELEASE
CORNELIUS, N.C. (April 10, 2013) – Former NASCAR driver Steve Arpin is taking on a new challenge, competing full-time in the Global Rallycross Championship (GRC) in 2013. He will race for newly formed OMSE2, a satellite team to GRC powerhouse team OlsbergsMSE. His first race will be at Foz do Iguaçu, later this month in Brazil.
Arpin, originally from Canada and now residing in North Carolina, has been racing since he was 10 years old and most recently competed in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Moving from go-karts to snowmobiles to dirt cars to stock cars, Arpin has an array of racing experience, which makes him especially excited to take on GRC.
“I’ve never raced anything like Global Rallycross Championship before,” commented Arpin. “I am really looking forward to the new challenge. This series has a lot of excitement and momentum building right now, and I’m happy to be a part of it. This is a great opportunity for me because it gives me a chance to grow with the series. I think people my age gravitate towards extreme sports, so I can’t wait to connect with a new group of fans while also getting to compete in a fun and exciting sport.”
Arpin will race a Ford Fiesta for OMSE2 with support from Loenbro and Simpson Race Products. Additional sponsorship opportunities are available. Arpin and the team will compete in the full 2013 GRC schedule with official race dates to be announced soon.
For additional information on GRC, please visit www.global-rallycross.com. For more information on the team, OMSE2, please visit www.omse.se/, and for more information on Steve Arpin, please visit www.stevearpin.com.
