A historic and impressive drive for Niki Arsham at Round 4 of the 2025 United Touring Car Championship. Niki becomes the youngest woman to finish on the podium in USTCC history.

At the start of the weekend teammates Niki and Becky Arsham had planned to split the 2.5-hour enduro at Thunderhill raceway. However, the young rookie had the courage to not perform a driver change during their pit-stop, and it paid off! Niki gained her team a third-place finish in the Sportsman class.

Niki qualified fourth in her class for the long enduro ahead. During the start she was able to gain two positions before turn 1. By the second lap she was in third place behind Andy Chittum and Michael McColligan. Arsham’s strategy for this enduro was to drive as fast as she could, while conserving as much fuel as possible. The teammates had agreed to do a one-stop fuel strategy with a driver change. By the halfway point of the enduro, Niki was doing great on gas and was feeling strong behind the wheel of the GoGoGear.com/ Konig Wheels Honda Civic. The multiple full-course yellows had helped her save some gas and regain some space between her and her competitor ahead who was in third place in Sportsman.

At about the 1 hour and 40-minute mark, Niki decided to make her single stop for gas. As she was rounding turn 9 before entering the pits, she decided to stay in the car and not perform a driver change with her teammate Becky Arsham.​​ Talking with Niki after the race she said, “It was both a last-minute decision and a planned one at the same time. Becky and I talked about me driving the entire 2.5 hours. But I wanted to see how the car felt, and more importantly how I felt.” Niki went on to explain that knowing how hot it was going to get and how it was still her first-year racing with USTCC, she didn’t want to over commit and cost her partner a podium finish. However, her last-minute decision to stay in the car, is what ended up making the difference in their third place finish. 

After their pit stop, Niki was able to push the car knowing that she had a full tank of gas on-board. Knowing that she didn’t have to conserve too much fuel, Niki was able to set her fastest lap of the race during the second half. Overall, Niki proved to her team, and more importantly herself, that she has what it takes to race in USTCC. 

Niki Arsham finished third place in Sportsman and it was her first podium finish in USTCC. Niki’s finish also made history in USTCC, being the youngest woman to finish on the podium, at 22 years old.