TOLEDO OH (3-7-09) - ARCA Lincoln Welders Truck Series veteran Steve Christman will be 62 years young this September, and he is a long way from retirement.
"Retirement is the last thing on my mind," said Christman, who lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
"I live for racing. It's what I think about all winter. I don't golf; I don't drink; I don't play around. I work hard. Other than that, racing is what I do. It's what I want to do."
And Christman does it very well. In fact, most drivers in their teens and 20s are not up on the wheel quite like Christman, whose right rear tire is, more often than not, smoking like a chimney off the corners as if he were at Eldora.
In fact, when the series raced at Eldora in 2006, it was Christman who earned the pole award with a new one-lap track record. If not for a broken track bar, it could have easily turned into a victory too.
However, the victories did not come until 2008; but come they did. If he wasn't winning, he was most often in the top two or three chasing the leader. In 49 career ARCA Lincoln Welders Truck Series starts, half (24) are recorded as top-five finishes.
Christman opened the '08 season with big win at Anderson Speedway where he led all 100 laps. He would repeat as winner with back-to-back wins to close the season at Salem and Toledo. If not for mechanical DNFs, he very well may have been the champ. At any rate, he was a contender all the way through, finishing up third in points.
"That's what we were striving for last year (the championship). I've never won a championship. We talked about it the year before and decided it was time we went for the title. Trouble is, a couple breakdowns (DNFs), and you're out of the ballgame."
Christman, who drove the no. 19 truck for Dan Eakins in 2008, is changing teams for the 2009 season. Christman is slated to drive the no. 99 Blaine Miller Service Chevrolet.
"I've known Blaine for a long time. I had driven his different cars over the years before he quit racing 18 years ago."
Christman has actually been racing for the better part of 35 years starting in street stock divisions around the Fort Wayne area.
"I ran Fort Wayne, Avilla, Bryan, all over this area for years. Ran about six years in the street stocks before I bought a late model. Ran the ASA Sportsman Series from '79 through the mid-80s."
Christman was the ASA Sportsman Rookie of the Year in 1981. Interestingly, he would soon find himself running for Rookie of the Year in NASCAR's highest division - what's known today as the SPRINT Cup Series.
"I had driven for Doug Miller in '86. Doug knew Tom Winkle, who owned some dealerships. Tom knew that Doug raced, so Tom began to take an interest; but Tom got interested in NASCAR. He was, at that time, helping J.D. McDuffie - he bought tires for J.D.
"Tom bought a Pontiac and took us to Daytona in '87. NASCAR wanted to watch me, so we ran the ARCA race with the car. Doug (Miller) was in charge. Woody (Delphas Woods) did all the set-ups. Anyway, we finished fifth in the ARCA race, so I guess NASCAR was ok with that; so we set up in the NASCAR garage.
"We ran with one car for the first half of '87. Over the course of the season, we accumulated a couple more cars. We made 20 Cup races that year out of the 28 total."
Christman also finished third in Cup Rookie of the Year points behind Davey Allison and Dale Jarrett. To this day, Woods, who did the set-ups that year for Christman in the Cup division, still does Christman's set-ups on his trucks.
"After our year in Cup, we started racing Modifieds with the USA Modified Series. Ran Toledo, Shady Bowl, Angola, Winchester, Salem, the fairgrounds at Nashville, all over. We had a dirt modified too. We ran 95 races one year - I believe that was in 1995. Ran 98 (races) the next (year)."
Not too long after, Kyle Witwer, who fielded four trucks in the new ARCA Lincoln Welders Truck Series, introduced Christman to ARCA's newest touring series.
"Joe Wormcastle was running with Kyle at the time. Kyle asked him (Wormcastle) if he'd put me in it. Joe said he ‘most certainly would', and it sort of took off from there."
When Christman isn't racing, he works fulltime as a welder for Sherman Enterprises, a shop that builds and repairs racecars, farm equipment and whatever else may come through the door. 
But when he is racing, he is as focused as he ever was in the car (truck), maybe even more so.
"Honestly, I feel like I'm a better driver today than I was years ago - more focused and calmer. I make better decisions and plan ahead better (on the track). I don't get tired in the car, even when it's really hot. In fact, the heat works to my advantage because it doesn't bother me.
"I still have that ‘greyhound chasing the rabbit' thing going. When I get behind someone, all I want to do is pass them.
"After all these years, I really want to win a championship; it's the one thing in this sport I haven't done yet. Been racing so long. I feel this may be my best shot to win a championship coming up. We've got the equipment, all the radios, the know-how; we've got a great group of guys interested, dedicated and go everytime.
"I absolutely love the ARCA Lincoln Welders Truck Series; we race at some really neat tracks. I think it's the best thing going out there right now. Best money spent on the money returned. I don't think, even from a local track standpoint, there's anything better out there than what ARCA's got going with the trucks."
STEVE CHRISTMAN ARCA LINCOLN WELDERS TRUCK SERIES BIO:
Finished career-best 3rd in ARCA Lincoln Welders Truck Series driver points '08. Also finished 7th in points '07. 3-time series winner at Anderson Speedway '08 where he led all 100 laps, Salem Speedway '08 and Toledo Speedway '08. In 49 career series starts since 2001, has 24 top-5 finishes and 31 top-10s. Career-best finishes other than wins are 2nd at Flat Rock Speedway '08 & ‘07, 2nd at Delaware Speedway '08, 2nd at Springfield mile-dirt '08, 2nd at Toledo '07, 2nd at Salem '06, 2nd at Lake Erie Speedway '03, 3rd at DuQuoin mile-dirt '08, 3rd at Kentucky Speedway '08, 3rd at Anderson '07, 3rd at Kil-Kare Speedway '06, 3rd at Delaware '05, 4th at Winchester Speedway '08, 4th at Toledo '06, 4th at Dixie Motor Speedway '02, 5th at Cayuga Motor Speedway '08, 5th at Toledo '07, 5th at Kil-Kare '07, 5th at Sauble Speedway '07, 5th at Winchester '06, 5th at Winchester '05, 6th at Sauble '08, 6th at Mansfield Motor Speedway '05, 6th at Flat Rock '05, 6th at Chicago Motor Speedway '01, 7th at Kentucky '06, 8th at Iowa Speedway '08 and 10th at Flat Rock '07. Has 3 career pole awards at Tyler County '07, Eldora '06 and Kentucky '02. Quick time of 20.452 seconds at Eldora is an ALWTS track record there. Has led 378 in 14 races.
