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Steve Arpin gets first win for Loenbro at Red Bull GRC New England

By Brittany Frederick

Steve Arpin, Scott Speed, and Chris Atkinson win at Red Bull Global Rallycross in Thompson, Connecticut on June 4, 2017. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Red Bull Global Rallycross
Steve Arpin, Scott Speed, and Chris Atkinson win at Red Bull Global Rallycross in Thompson, Connecticut on June 4, 2017. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Red Bull Global Rallycross /
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Steve Arpin earned his first win for Loenbro Motorsports at Red Bull Global Rallycross New England in Sunday’s conclusion to the doubleheader.

The second race of Red Bull Global Rallycross New England gave Steve Arpin his first win of the season, as the GRC contender finally reached the top under his new Loenbro Motorsports banner.

Arpin had racked up podium finishes in two of the previous three GRC races, and finished fourth in Saturday’s first race in Thompson, CT. With the season only 12 races long, that means Steve Arpin will have finished on the podium for at least a quarter of the season and is just one event away from tying the number of podiums he earned across all of 2016.

His consistency paid off Sunday when he took advantage of a bad break for then-race leader Tanner Foust, whose car ended up in the Turn 4 tires. Arpin, who had pressured Foust throughout the final, was then able to pass him and take the checkered flag for the first time.

It was an important win for Steve Arpin not just for this season but in the big picture. Arpin made himself into a championship contender the past two GRC seasons driving for Chip Ganassi Racing before setting out on his own this year with Loenbro Motorsports.

His team is not backed by a manufacturer, unlike the two teams that he beat on Sunday — Subaru Rally Team USA and the defending champions Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross.

“This Jacob Companies car has been so fast all weekend,” Arpin said after the race in a league press release. “Tanner has been a little bit quicker, but we knew we could just stay on him and put pressure on him.

“That’s why I followed him into the Joker [Lap]—I knew we couldn’t catch him and pass him, but we had to keep the pressure on, and it worked. He just pushed it a little bit too hard.”

Andretti’s Scott Speed finished second and reclaimed the GRC championship lead, while Chris Atkinson completed the New England podium in his first full season with Subaru. The Andretti duo are still burning up the track as they look for what would be their third consecutive championship in 2017.

But the GRC title hunt is no longer a two-car, one-team battle as Steve Arpin has proved that no matter what name he’s driving under and what resources he has at his disposal, he can continue to build on a successful 2016 season by being a contender and now, a race winner.

Steve Arpin’s victory keeps him third in the championship standings, behind Speed and Foust. He is just seven points behind Foust for second place and only 17 behind Speed for the top spot, with another doubleheader weekend on the horizon.

To find out more about Steve Arpin and the other stories to watch in the GRC season, click here.

Next: Graham Rahal sweeps IndyCar's Dual in Detroit

Red Bull Global Rallycross next competes in Ottawa, Canada for another doubleheader event from June 17-18. For more on Global Rallycross, visit the Motor Sports category at FanSided here.