Venturini Motorsports was formed by Bill Venturini Sr., a former NASCAR driver, two-time ARCA Racing Series Champion (1987 and 1991), and 1983 ARCA Rookie of the Year. Largely influenced by his father Tony Venturini, Bill founded the racing team in 1982. The team is family-owned and operated, with various members of the Venturini family holding positions on the team, including CEO, CFO, General Manager, and Director of Marketing and Public Relations. In 2007, Bill's son Billy helped found the Venturini Driver Development Program, one of the largest such programs for ARCA drivers in the United States.[1]
Cup Series
Bill Venturini drove the No. 35 Chevrolet with Rain-X as a sponsor to make its Winston Cup debut at Michigan in 1989, where he started 38th and finished 37th. Between 1982 and 1995, the team had made select starts in the Winston Cup Series, Busch Series, and Craftsman Truck Series with Bill Venturini behind the wheel.
In 2013, the team made its return to the Nationwide Series with driver John Wes Townley and sponsor Zaxby's on the 25 Toyota Camry. The team planned to run at Bristol, Charlotte, and Talladega with the possibility of up to eight more races.[12] Townley finished 17th in his debut at Bristol, crashed at Charlotte, and failed to qualify at Talladega.
Bill Venturi drove made 3 starts in the No. 35 between 1995 and 1996. And didn’t make It was announced in August 2014 that Venturini would return to the Camping World Truck Series on a part-time basis for the starting at Bristol with ARCA driver Justin Boston and his sponsor Zloop. Team owner Billy Venturini himself would serve as Boston's crew chief.[14][15] Boston qualified 27th and finished 30th after a crash.[16] The team planned to run the final three races of the season in preparation for a full-time effort in 2015,[14] but those plans were scrapped when sponsor Zloop shifted their focus to the next season.[16]
Boston and Zloop would move to Kyle Busch Motorsports for 2015. In addition, Venturini would field the No. 25 truck in select races for KBM driver Matt Tifft,[17][18]Joe Gibbs Racing driver Cody Coughlin, and Venturini road course specialist Brian Wong. The team has not made any scheduled races in 2016.
The No. 15 drove in six races in 2008, all with different drivers, including the 2018 and 2022 NASCAR Cup Series champion, Joey Logano.
Multiple Drivers (2010-2018)
Venturini entered the No. 15 for eighteen races in 2010 and sixteen races in 2011. Ryan Reed drove fourteen of the nineteen races from the No. 15 in 2012. Kyle Benjamin and John Wes Townley drove eleven of the twenty-one races in 2013 for the No. 15. Townley would end up driving fifteen of the twenty races in the No. 15 in 2014. Only eight races in 2015 entered the No. 15. Daniel Suárez and even the legendary Frank Kimmel drove it. Sixteen races entered the No. 15 in 2016. For 2017, soon-to-be the 2019 series champion, Christian Eckes drove the No. 15 with other drivers. 2018 had twenty races run.
Eckes drove the No. 15 car to a championship in 2019. He became the first driver since Tim Steele in 1997 to win a championship while missing a race because Harrison Burton raced one race in the No. 15 while Eckes drove the other nineteen.
Drew Dollar (2020)
After Eckes was promoted to the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series in 2020, Drew Dollar was promoted from the West Series to the ARCA Menards Series in 2020, finishing third and fourteenth in the first two races before the 2019-20 coronavirus pandemic stopped NASCAR from being public. Though he won at Talladega and finished fourth in points, he left to drive part-time in the Truck Series and part-time here.
Multiple Drivers (2021-2022)
Drew Dollar is slated to run 11 national series raced in 2021.[24] Gracie Trotter was promoted from the ARCA West Series to the ARCA Menards Series on a part-time schedule for 5 races.[25]
Jesse Love ran the No. 20 in 14 races in 2022, excluding 6 events which Corey Heim ran. Love returned to pilot the No. 20 full time in 2023, as he has turned 18 before the season began. Love finished 7th in the season opener at Daytona. He had led 38 laps in the second race at Phoenix before he crashed and ended up 27th. Love bounced back winning the next two races at Talladega and Kansas.[26]
Car No. 25 history
Multiple Drivers (2008)
Sixteen races were run by five different drivers in 2008.
Mikey Kile (2010)
Mikey Kile moved from running a limited basis in Brad Keselowski Racing in 2009 to drive the No. 25 in 2010 full-time winning a race at Michigan and finishing fifth in points.
Poole would drive the No. 25 in 2012 full-time earning fifteen top tens, three poles, and two wins back-to-back at Elko Speedway and Pocono Raceway to finish third in points before being forced to race part-time for the next two years due to a lack of funding, he would serve as a crew chief, spotter, consultant, and engineer for the team in that time.
To replace Poole, Venturini got Justin Boston to race the No. 25 in 2013, with his sponsor, Zloop. His highest finish was second at Madison Speedway. That was one of his eight top-fives that season. He ended up getting the Rookie Of The Year honors and finished third in the standings behind Mason Mingus and Frank Kimmel. He drove the No. 25 again in 2014. Although he got two wins at Toledo and Madison, he finished fifth in points for 2014. He left the No. 25 in 2015 to drive two more races in ARCA in Venturini's No. 55.
Frank Kimmel And Brandon Jones (2015)
Both drivers drove ten races in 2015, with Kimmel finishing thirteenth in points to Jones finishing fifteenth. Kimmel's highest finish was second at Michigan and Jones’ highest finish was also second but at Mobile.
Tom Hessert (2016)
After Jones and Kimmel left, Tom Hessert was picked up to drive the No. 25 for 2016. He won one race at DeQuoin and ended up finishing second in points to Hessert's replacement at Cunningham Motorsports, Chase Briscoe.
Multiple Drivers (2017)
Hessert drove part-time along with a couple of other drivers including Natalie Decker.
Decker was assigned to drive full-time in 2018. She got two top fives at the season opener and Elko. She was then promoted to the Truck Series after finishing seventh in points for Venturini in the 2018 season.
Michael Self replaced Decker after he got some wins driving part-time. After wrecking in the season opener, he retaliated by winning the next two races. He won two more races and finished second behind his teammate in points, Christian Eckes. In 2020, he won the season opener and finished second in the next race before the 2019-20 coronavirus pandemic held up the rest of the season.
Gracie Trotter was promoted from the Arca West Series to the ARCA Menards Series on a part-time schedule for 4 races beginning at the Lucas Oil 200.[25] Jesse Love will also race this car for 9 races, while 7 races are still TBD.
In 2022, Toni Breidinger would run this car full-time. She scored 6 top tens which came at Daytona, Kansas, Berlin, Pocono, Kansas 2, and Salem. Her average finish for the season was 12.8. She finished the season 6th in the points standings.
Car No. 28 history
Miguel Paludo (2011)
The No. 28 only ran one race, with Miguel Paludo at the season opener, finishing thirteenth.
Car No. 35 history
Multiple Drivers (2010, 2012)
The No. 35 was first run in 2010 with it only being driven in six races. After not racing in 2011, the No. 35 was revived in 2012 for a full-time season with part-time drivers.
Milka Duno (2013)
Venturini hired Milka Duno for her first and only full-time season in 2013. She even got a pole at the Talladega race, leading the first eleven laps before wrecking out. Her highest finish was eighth at Salem. After finishing almost all her races in the top twenty, she finished seventh in points. This was the last year the No. 35 raced.
Car No. 47 history
Tom Berte (2008)
The No. 47 only ran two races in 2008. Tom Berte drove both of them. The No. 47 has not run since.
Car No. 48 history
Tom Berte (2008)
The No. 48 only ran one race, with Tom Berte in 2008.
In 2010, Steve Arpin eighteen races while two others filled the others. In 2011, ten drivers shared the car, including current Cup Series drivers, Alex Bowman, and Brennan Poole. In 2012, Erik Jones drove most of the races before finishing twenty-first in points. In 2013, Taylor Ferns drove the most out of the ten drivers sharing the No. 55. Cody Coughlin would drive the most races in 2014. Coughlin again would share the No. 55 in 2015 with at the time, future Cup Series drivers such as William Byron and Daniel Suárez. In 2016, Dalton Sargeant drove the most races with fifteen in the No. 55. Zane Smith would drive the most races for the No. 55 team in 2017.
Corey Heim (2020)
In 2020, Venturini announced Corey Heim will drive their No. 55 part-time in 2020.
Derek Griffith (2021)
Derek will drive the 55 for two races in 2021. One of these races was the Lucas Oil 200.
Gus Dean (2022)
Dean will drive the 55 for at least five races in 2022. One of these races was the Lucas Oil 200.
Car No. 66 history
Mark Thompson (2010-2012)
Thompson would drive the No. 66 in only two races in 2010, the season opener where he finished second, and at Talladega where he finished 25th. In 2011, he raced in two races again, at the opener, finishing seventeenth, and at Chicago, finishing thirty-fourth. 2012 was the only season the No. 66 was raced full-time. In 2012, he finished fifth in the season opener, fourteenth at Talladega, and twenty-fourth at Chicago. The No. 66 did not run in 2013.
Multiple Drivers (2014)
Ten drivers shared the No. 66 in 2014.
Leilani Münter (2015)
Leilani drove the No. 66 in one race, wrecking out at the season opener, finishing 38th.
Multiple Drivers (2016)
Five races were run in 2015, with Mark Thompson running two while the other three drove one.
Recent wins
2018 ARCA Venturini Motorsports team in victory lane at Madison
In 2006, the team ended a 12-year winless streak when Billy Venturini won the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers ARCA 200 by Federated Auto Parts.
Since 2006, Venturini Motorsports drivers have won 41 races:[27][28][29]
Grant McArthur Enfinger is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 9 Chevrolet Silverado for CR7 Motorsports. Before moving up to the Truck Series, Enfinger won the 2015 ARCA Racing Series series championship with GMS Racing.
The 2014 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards was the 62nd season of the ARCA Racing Series. The season began on February 15 with the Lucas Oil 200 presented by MAVTV American Real and ended on October 3 with the ARCA 98.9, after a total of 20 races.
Brennan Cole Poole is an American professional stock car racing driver, engineer, consultant, driver coach, spotter, crew chief, and team owner. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 44 Chevrolet Camaro for Alpha Prime Racing. He was formerly a development driver for Venturini Motorsports from 2011 to 2014 as well as for Chip Ganassi Racing from 2015 to 2017.
Michael Self is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed full-time in the ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 25 Toyota Camry for Venturini Motorsports. He was a former development driver for Richard Childress Racing, and has made seven NASCAR Xfinity Series starts for JD Motorsports. He has eight wins in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, and nine wins in ARCA competition.
Christian Donald Eckes is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 19 Chevrolet Silverado for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing. Eckes is the 2019 ARCA Menards Series champion, won the Snowball Derby in 2016, and was formerly a development driver for JR Motorsports and later Toyota.
Tricon Garage, formerly known as David Gilliland Racing, DGR-Crosley, and Team DGR, is an American professional stock car racing team that competes in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The team was founded in early 2017 when racing team owners David Gilliland and Bo LeMastus came together to form a collaborative effort from their respective teams, David Gilliland Racing and Crosley Sports Group, known as DGR-Crosley. DGR-Crosley fielded Toyotas in 2018 and 2019 before announcing its switch to Ford starting in 2020. The team reverted to the David Gilliland Racing name in 2021 as Johnny Gray became a co-owner. Former co-owner and driver Bo LeMastus remained with the team in a marketing and sponsorship capacity.
Zane Michael Smith is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 71 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Spire Motorsports in an alliance with Trackhouse Racing, and part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 91 Chevrolet Silverado for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing. He is the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion.
The 2019 ARCA Menards Series was the 67th season of the ARCA Menards Series. Christian Eckes of Venturini Motorsports won the championship over teammate Michael Self. Eckes became the first champion since Tim Steele in 1997 to win the title after missing a race during the season.
The 2020 ARCA Menards Series season was the 68th season of the ARCA Menards Series. It began on February 8 with the Lucas Oil 200 at Daytona International Speedway and ended on October 16 with the Speediatrics 150 at Kansas Speedway. 2020 was the first season that the series was sanctioned by NASCAR.
The 2020 ARCA Menards Series East was the 34th season of the ARCA Menards Series East, a regional stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR. It began on February 10 at New Smyrna Speedway with the Skip's Western Outfitters 175, and concluded on October 11 at Five Flags Speedway with the Pensacola 200. 2020 marked the first season the series was known as the ARCA Menards Series East, after it was known as the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East for the previous ten years.
Andrew J. Dollar is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 18 Toyota Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing and part-time in the ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 18 Toyota Camry for Kyle Busch Motorsports. He has raced in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, ARCA Menards Series East and the ARCA Menards Series West.
The 2020 ARCA Menards Series West was the sixty-seventh season of the ARCA Menards Series West, a regional stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR. It began on February 20 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Bullring with the Star Nursery 150, and ended on November 6 at Phoenix Raceway with the Arizona Lottery 100.
Corey David Heim is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 11 Toyota Tundra for Tricon Garage and part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 26 Toyota Supra for Sam Hunt Racing. He also serves as a reserve driver for Legacy Motor Club and 23XI Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. He has previously competed in the ARCA Menards Series, East Series, and West Series.
Jesse Hammer Love Jr. is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 2 Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing.
The 2021 ARCA Menards Series season was the 69th season of the ARCA Menards Series, a stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in the United States. The season began at Daytona International Speedway with the Lucas Oil 200 on February 13 and ended with the Reese's 150 at Kansas Speedway on October 23. Ty Gibbs was crowned the series champion, having won ten times and finished in the top four in 19 of 20 races.
The 2021 ARCA Menards Series East was the 35th season of the ARCA Menards Series East, a regional stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in the United States. The season began on February 8 at New Smyrna Speedway with the Jeep Beach 175 and ended on September 16 at Bristol Motor Speedway with the Bush's Beans 200. Sammy Smith and Joe Gibbs Racing won the series championship. JGR's No. 18 car, driven by Smith and Ty Gibbs, won all but one race during the season.
The 2021 ARCA Menards Series West was the sixty-eighth season of the ARCA Menards Series West, a regional stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in the United States. The season began at Phoenix Raceway with the General Tire 150 and ended with another race at Phoenix Raceway, the Arizona Lottery 100, on November 6.
The 2022 ARCA Menards Series was the 70th season of the ARCA Menards Series, a stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in the United States. The season began at Daytona International Speedway with the Lucas Oil 200 on February 19 and ended with the Shore Lunch 200 at Toledo Speedway on October 8.
The 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series was the 29th season of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, a stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in the United States. The season started with the NextEra Energy 250 on February 17 at Daytona International Speedway, and ended with the Craftsman 150 on November 3 at Phoenix Raceway.
William "Billy" Venturini is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He currently co-owns Venturini Motorsports, a racing team that competes in the ARCA Menards Series, along with his father, Bill. As a driver, he competes part-time in the ARCA Menards Series East, driving the No. 25 Toyota Camry for Venturini Motorsports. He previously competed in the series either full-time or part-time from 1994 through 2007, mainly driving for the same team.
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