Lost amid the Talladega chaos was the story of JR Motorsports newest driver, Steve Arpin.  On Friday, Arpin went out and promptly put his Chevy in the second row during qualifying.  Not bad for a kid who’d never driven an NNS car before.  Once the race got started, the young Canadian ran as high as second, but was caught up in the last lap “big one” and finished 26th.  He will again pilot the #7 Chevy for Dale Jr. on Friday night in the BUBBA Burger 250 at Richmond, a race that will put his skills to the test.

A racer from a young age, Arpin excelled in go carts and dirt late models.  In 2008, he also won Rookie of the Year in the USAC Silver Crown Series driving for Carl Edwards.  For 2009, Arpin moved into stock car racing, where he competed full time in the ARCA RE/MAX Series for owners Eddie Sharp and Bill Venturini.  In 21 starts, he had four top five and eleven top ten finishes in route to finishing seventh in the final points standings.

A successful rookie campaign afforded Arpin the chance to again run for the full ARCA season with Venturini Motorsports.  Through five races this season, Arpin already has two wins, Salem and Texas, and is second in the points standings.

Arpin’s success this season and last attracted the attention of JR Motorsports, and after Kelly Bires was released earlier in the year, JRM brought Arpin aboard.  JRM is looking for a driver to fill open slots in both its #7 and #88 cars for later in the season, and if all goes well, Arpin might get more races.

While he proved at Talladega that he isn’t afraid to get up on the wheel and drive, his real test will be this weekend at Richmond.  Anymore, doing well at ‘Dega is more about luck (see Johnny Borneman) and having a good car than it is about real driving skill.  Richmond will test even the best drivers’ abilities.

Different at both ends, success at Richmond is determined by how well a team and their driver can get their car handling.  In this week’s Chevrolet pre-race notes, Jeff Burton said:

“Richmond is one of the places where handling means everything. The key factors in running well is getting through the center of the corners and throttling up without losing rear grip. It sounds simple to do, but the one that wins did it the best.”

Besides having a good handling car, a driver must avoid the carnage that comes with short track racing at Richmond, and get to the finish. 

If Arpin is able to communicate what he needs to crew chief Tony Eury Jr., and make it to the finish on Friday night, we just might be witnessing a star in the making.  A solid top 20 finish would go a long way in getting him more races in 2010.

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