Getting to Know...

Chris Arihood

By: RacerRich

Like many other drivers, we find that Chris Arihood is a second-generation driver who started racing because his father did it before him. Chris is the son of Herb and Luanne Arihood and he was introduced into auto racing by his Dad when he was a teenager. Working on his Dad’s racecars and later driving and competing against him are very special memories for Chris. Herb owned a Goodyear dealership in Rensselaer, Indiana and started racing to relieve himself of the stresses of running a business. Racing was simply a recreation for Herb and while he was generally in the top ten of points for his five years of active racing he won his only feature race on July 4th, 1976. This was a very memorable win for Herb since this was on the anniversary of our country's bicentennial. Today Herb serves as Mayor of Rensselaer and still supports his son's racing efforts.

Chris was born on April 4, 1962 in Lafayette, Indiana and as soon as he reached the age of sixteen he began his racing career. It didn't take long for Chris to start making his mark in racing, as in June of 1978, he had a double win night and won $10 for his heat race and $50 for his feature victory, racing in the 6-Cylinder Sportsmen Division at the Rensselaer Speedway. At the age of seventeen and in only his second year of racing, Chris won the Track Championship for this division, making him the youngest Track Champion in the history of the track.

In 1981 he was involved in a very close points race for the season championship with Dave Malone and Butch Kisner. Going into the final night of racing, all three drivers still had a chance to be the Track Champion. It was decided between these three drivers and the track promoter that should there be a tie at the end of the night, the tie would be decided with a special head to head, best two out of three races to settle the championship. At the end of the night Chris and Dave were tied for the points. Chris had a major problem also because at the end of the night’s feature race, he had a rod knocking in his engine. He held to the agreement and started the match race and after getting the jump on Dave at the green flag, while going down the backstretch, his engine expired and that decided the championship. ‘Close, but no cigar’ Chris says with a smile.

In 1985 Chris was married to his wife Trissa. They have been blessed with two daughters, Aubrey and Ashland and a son Rylan. Chris introduces Rylan as the next generation driver and finishes the thought with ‘time will tell if he’ll be interested in our sport’. Trissa and the kids all support Chris with his racing endeavors. And along with his parents support, he adds that Trissa’s parents, Richard and Dinah also follow and help with his racing, Richard serving on his pit crew. Chris has two sisters, Angie and Paige who are close and supportive of his racing also. Chris tells how thankful he is to have all of his family backing him with his racing and he’s especially pleased that his Dad has taught him the business sense of racing. Chris tells that ‘he’s always been there with financial help when I needed it, with the agreement that I always pay the money back to him.’

Chris is very proud of his pit crew and the relationships he has built through racing. It is interesting that fellow driver and friend Gary Sheffer started his racing career as a member of Chris’ crew before getting the desire to become a driver also. His crew chief is Brian Smith and their friendship started during their school years. They grew up as friends and played football on the High School team together, playing on a 10-0 team as sophomores. When Chris started racing, Brian was there to help with the car and has been there throughout Chris’ entire twenty-five year racing career. It was Brian who introduced Chris and Trissa and lined up their first date. They have both been ‘Best Man’ at each other’s weddings. They are more like brothers than just close friends. Also on the crew is Chris’ cousin Jayce ‘Elvis’ Halligan. Chris takes great pride in trying to be like a big brother for Jayce. Craig Minter is the other helpful hand on the pit crew. Chris states that his racing efforts would not be as good as they are without this dedicated bunch of guys that put so much effort into his racing and wants to thank all of them for their hours of hard work they put into this race team.

Another friendship that Chris is very proud of is one that started at the beginning of his racing career. When telling this story he says that Daryl ‘Worm’ Orns was his Mentor. Worm owns and operates the Wolcott Body Shop and has been a sponsor of Chris’ racing since the beginning. He was a driver at Rensselaer when Chris started driving and has been there for guidance throughout the years. It has been very gratifying for Chris to be able to payback some of this guidance over the past few years since Worm’s son Matt has started racing. A highlight of this friendship was getting a picture of Matt and Chris along with their racecars and trophies published in ‘Circle Track Magazine’. Matt has been a two time Track Champion in the Mini-Stock Division at Crown Point Speedway and it’s obvious that both Worm and Chris are proud of his racing accomplishments.

Chris has a passionate love for the sport of auto racing and closely follows most forms of our sport. He does admit that he doesn’t keep up with drag racing very well but adds that he has a great respect for what those guys accomplish. In naming his favorite drivers he includes John Force, Tony Stewart and Steve Kinser but his all time favorite was Dale Sr. In telling what he likes best about racing he clearly states the comradery of the racing people and the competition that our sport produces. When asked about the possibility of driving midgets or sprint cars, the answer is ‘no opportunities ever presented themselves but I would liked to have had a chance to drive them.’

Chris is employed at Purdue University in Lafayette and is a Maintenance Crew Chief Mechanic. He serves as a Deacon at the 1st Christian Church in Rensselaer, where he has attended since he was a young lad. This church is where Chris and Trissa were married.

Some highlights from Chris’ racing are being named ‘Driver of the Week’ at the Rensselaer Speedway in the 6 Cylinder Sportsmen Division in 1979 and also at the Crown Point (Broadway) Speedway in 1992 in the Late Model Division. For many years, Crown Point featured a big race for their Late Model Division. It was called the Harvest 100 and in 1992 Chris finished second in this race after leading for 58 laps. In 1999 he won the Street Stock Sportsmanship Award at Crown Point. In 2001 he won the Shadyhill Sportsmanship Award, which is voted on by his fellow drivers from all divisions, thus making this extra meaningful to him. In 1994 while competing in the IMCA Modified Division at Shadyhill, he and Bub Patrick were in a one on one match race for $1000, best two out of three, and winner take all. After a coin flip to determine lane choice, in the first heat Chris won, the second heat Bub won and then Bub won the final heat and the thousand dollars. While being disappointed that he didn’t win the money he was happy that he had the opportunity to race for some big bucks.

In 2001 he accomplished two feats that he is very proud of. The Shadyhill Speedway offers the ‘Shadyhill Challenge’ where a driver that is to start the feature from the pole position is given the opportunity to start the race in the 16th spot and if the driver wins the race they receive a bonus payout from the purse that grows every week until someone wins the challenge. Chris accepted the challenge and won the 15-lap feature giving him a payout for the night of $625. Going into the 2003 season, Chris is the only driver from any division to accept the ‘Challenge’ and win the feature race and the bonus money. Also during this year, for a while he was competing in two divisions each night. He won the feature in the Super Street Division and later the same night he won the MMA Modified feature. In all of his years of racing he can only think of one other time that he saw a driver accomplish this feat.

During his racing career, Chris has been able to get to the ‘Victory Circle’ on a regular basis. In 1996, while racing in the Hobby Stock Division at Shadyhill, he won seven dashes, nine heats and six features and finished a very close 2nd in the points. He totally dominated the 2001 Super Street Division at Shadyhill by winning sixteen features and numerous dashes and heats. This produced his second Track Championship of his career and by winning 63 races, this is the most wins for any one year of his career. He also won three features in the MMA Modified Division this year, racing a limited schedule with this car. While having a struggling type of year in 2002, again he ended up on top of the points race giving him back to back Track Championships, for a total of three in his career. Chris tells that ‘this was a very gratifying championship because of our year long handling problems we had, plus the way that our competition closed the gap on us from the previous year.’

While most of his racing has been on dirt, he did race at Henry’s Speedway in Boswell, In. when it was a paved track. And he was very pleased to race at the Plymouth Speedway in the January 1st ‘Hangover Race’ where you ‘Run What Ya Brung’ in the Street Stock Division. He had a third place finish, racing against the cars that competed at this track throughout the year. ‘A very special memory and gratifying finish, considering that we were just trying to compete in their game’ Chris states with a smile. Besides the dirt tracks already mentioned, Chris has also raced at Kokomo, Bunker Hill, Boswell and Kankakee.

Most of Chris’ racing has been in cars that he has built, owned and driven. However he has driven for some other owners through the years. He would like to thank Dan Dazey, Bud Johnson, Bill Cooper and Otto Richardson that gave him rides and helped his career. Since Chris races on limited funds, he deals in restored racecars and used parts to help pay for his racing. He is also appreciative to his sister Angie who has helped financially when possible.

Through the years, Chris has been a winning driver in many classes of cars including 6 Cylinder Sportsmen, Street Stock, Super Streets, Hobby Stocks, IMCA and MMA Modifieds, Limited Late Models and Late Models. His main goal in any class has been to be competitive and enjoy the competition. Chris states that ‘I always want to be the best that I can be in whatever car I happen to drive.’ Most years he has raced a #4 like his Dad did when he raced. His favorite paint scheme has always been orange and white. For the 2003 season you can look for Chris in his UMP Modified at Shadyhill, with his #4 on the side panel but you will be surprised with the paint scheme. His sponsors for this year will be Wolcott Body Shop, CTS Express, Racestar Publications, Reynolds Automotive Center, Reinforcement Designs, and Ron’s Barber Shop.

Besides being thankful for his family and sponsors support throughout his racing career, Chris is particularly pleased with his fan support as well. He would like to take this opportunity to thank all the folks who cheer for him each week. Chris is very easy to get to know and enjoys meeting new fans and kids who take the time to visit with him. If you haven’t met Chris yet, you should make the effort to do so.

For this writer, I can assure you that it has been a great pleasure getting to know Chris over the past few years and being able to call him a friend. I would like to thank him for the opportunity to write this story about his racing and for the time that he has generously shared with me doing this. In my eyes, Chris is a ‘Winner’ on the track as well as away from the track.

Comments about this story can be sent to RacerRich