Billy Venturini

William "Billy" Venturini (born April 7, 1976) 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.

Billy Venturini
Venturini at Madison International Speedway in 2018
BornWilliam Venturini
(1976-04-07) April 7, 1976 (age 48)
Chicago, Illinois
ARCA Menards Series career
161 races run over 14 years
Best finish3rd (2006)
First race1994 Louisville 250 (Louisville)
Last race2007 ARCA Re/Max 250 (Talladega)
First win2006 Kentuckiana Ford Dealers ARCA 200 (Salem)
WinsTop tensPoles
1751
ARCA Menards Series East career
1 race run over 1 year
ARCA East no., teamNo. 25 (Venturini Motorsports)
First race2023 Dutch Boy 150 (Flat Rock)
WinsTop tensPoles
010
Statistics current as of May 20, 2023.

Racing career

ARCA

Venturini made his ARCA Series debut at Louisville Motor Speedway in 1994, when he was only 18-years old. His race would end early after oil pressure issues on lap 41. He ran four more races that year, earning his first top five at Toledo Speedway in September. He drove a race for Bill Egbert in the season finale at Atlanta Motor Speedway, finishing 32nd due to a driveshaft issue. In 1997, he joined Ed Rensi Racing to run a nine-race schedule, earning his best finish of 5th at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He returned next season, earning a top ten at Daytona. He returned to his family team, and continued running part-time in the series from 1999 through 2001. In 2002, he ran for the full season, earning one top five and nine top tens, finishing 6th in the final standings. He would respectively finish inside the top five in point standings for the next two years, along with earning a pole at Lake Erie Speedway in 2003. He went back to a part-time schedule in 2005, before returning full-time in 2006. He would capture his only win that year at Salem Speedway, after dominating the race by leading 95 laps. He would finish a career best 3rd in points. 2007 would end up being his final year as a driver. He ran eight races that year, earning a top five at Talladega Superspeedway, which would also be his final race. After the 2007 season, Venturini decided to retire as a driver, and focus on operating his racing team with his father. On May 6, 2023, during an interview with motorsport news website Frontstretch, Venturini revealed that he would return to the driver's seat for the first time in 16 years, running the ARCA Menards Series East race at Flat Rock Speedway. He would team with fellow driver and former driver for Venturini Brennan Poole as a spotter, and the pairing wound up earning a 4th place finish.[1] It was his first start in the East Series.

NASCAR Truck Series

Venturini attempted to make his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut in 1999, racing at Martinsville Speedway for his family team, but would fail to qualify for the event. He would attempt to run the next race, but would once again fail to qualify.[2] He attempted a race at Martinsville a year later, but also failed to qualify. He has not made a start in the series since then.[3]

Post-racing career

After retiring from driving in 2007, Venturini decided to turn his family team into a driver development program. Venturini would later be known for helping his team become one of the most premier driver development programs in the ARCA circuit, collecting over 50 wins in the series, including a championship in 2019.[4][5][6] That same year, Venturini won the Cometic Crew Chief of the Year award.[7] In 2012, Venturini, along with his family, were inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame (NIASHF). In 2022, Venturini received media attention during the ARCA race at Kansas in May. Venturini was serving as the crew chief for Corey Heim in the race, since the original crew chief, Shannon Rursch, was attending his daughter's college graduation that weekend. On lap 57 of the race, Drew Dollar made contact with Heim exiting turn 4, causing both of them to hit the outside wall, and spin through the infield grass. During an interview with FS1 reporter Kate Osborne, Venturini showed his displeasure with Dollar, stating that "Drew wrecks all your shit when he's driving for you, and then he wrecks it all when he's racing against you." He would also state that Dollar was a "pure lack of talent."[8] Dollar reacted to the interview a day later, by tweeting out Venturini's racing stats on Racing-Reference, with the caption saying "Guess it took this guy about 14 years to figure out he didn't need to be a race car driver."[9]

Personal life

Venturini is married to Emily, and they have twin sons, Luke and Max.[10] His younger sister, Wendy Venturini, is currently a pit reporter for Performance Racing Network (PRN).

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Craftsman Truck Series

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results
YearTeamNo.Make12345678910111213141516171819202122232425NCTCPtsRef
1999Venturini Motorsports35ChevyHOMPHOEVGMMRMAR
DNQ
MEM
DNQ
PPRI70BRITEXPIRGLNMLWNSVNZHMCHNHAIRPGTYHPTRCHLVSLVLTEXCAL98th[2]
200083DAYHOMPHOMMRMAR
DNQ
PIRGTYMEMPPREVGTEXKENGLNMLWNHANZHMCHIRPNSVCICRCHDOVTEXCAL118th[3]

ARCA Re/Max Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Re/Max Series results
YearTeamNo.Make12345678910111213141516171819202122232425ARSCPtsRef
1994Venturini Motorsports35ChevyDAYTALFIFLVL
26
KILTOL
14
FRSMCHDMSPOCPOCKILFRSINFI70
14
ISFDSFTOL
4
SLMWINNA0[11]
Bill Egbert62ChevyATL
32
1995Venturini Motorsports25ChevyDAYATLTALFIF
5
KIL
26
FRSMCHI80MCSFRSPOC
31
POCKILFRSSBSLVL
18
ISFDSFSLMWINATL
DNQ
NA0[12]
1996DAYATLSLMTALFIFLVLCLT
28
CLTKILFRSPOCMCHFRSTOLPOCMCHINDSBSISFDQNKILSLMWINCLT
31
ATLNA0[13]
1997DAYATLSLMCLT
38
20th1640[14]
Ed Rensi Racing83ChevyCLTPOCMCHSBS
6
TOL
13
KIL
22
FRSWVSPOCMCH
15
DQNGTW
29
SLM
20
WINCLT
5
TALISF
10
ATL
29
1998DAY
9
ATL
26
SLM
25
CLT
16
MEMMCHPOCSBSTOLPIKPOCKILFRSISFATLDQNSLMTEXWINNA0[15]
Venturini Motorsports25ChevyCLT
DNQ
TALATL
1999DAYATL
21
SLMANDCLT
10
MCH
36
POC
35
TOLSBSBERPOC
34
KILFRSFLMISFWINDQNSLMCLT
37
TALATL
6
43rd715[16]
2000DAYSLMANDCLT
11
KILFRSMCH
10
POC
16
TOLKEN
11
BERPOC
7
WINISFKEN
4
DQNSLMCLT
36
TALATL
9
28th1320[17]
2001DAY
23
NSH
26
WIN
4
SLM
23
GTW
8
KEN
13
CLT
23
KANMCHPOCMEM
30
GLNKEN
3
MCHPOC
20
NSH
7
ISFCHI
4
DQNSLMTOLBERCLT
4
TAL
33
ATL
36
18th2445[18]
2002PontiacDAY
29
TAL
10
6th4685[19]
ChevyATL
7
NSH
26
SLM
20
KEN
10
CLT
31
KAN
11
POC
6
MCH
19
TOL
7
SBO
3
KEN
12
BER
11
POC
25
NSH
8
ISF
9
WIN
24
DQN
13
CHI
8
SLM
26
CLT
22
2003PontiacDAY
3
SLM
3
BER
4*
LER
2*
WIN
9
SLM
20
TAL
2
SBO
29
5th4945[20]
ChevyATL
9
NSH
16
TOL
5
KEN
10
CLT
17
KAN
23
MCH
38
POC
10
POC
8
NSH
27
ISF
8
DQN
16
TOL
26
CLT
9
2004PontiacDAY
3
TAL
24
4th5015[21]
ChevyNSH
12
SLM
3
KEN
2
TOL
12
CLT
20
KAN
6
POC
4
MCH
30
SBO
3
BER
7
KEN
23
GTW
6
POC
8
LER
4
NSH
29
ISF
8
TOL
28
DQN
13
CHI
6
SLM
20
2005DAY
14
NSHSLMKENTOLLNSMLWPOCMCHKANNSHMCHISFTOL
3
DQN
8
CHI
8
SLM
4
TAL
28
28th1700[22]
15KEN
32
BER
27
POCGTWLER
2
200625DAY
7
NSH
12
SLM
1*
WIN
28
KEN
9
TOL
11
POC
34
MCH
12
KAN
35
KEN
25
BER
30
POC
7
GTW
17
NSH
4
MCH
7
ISF
9
MLW
9
TOL
9
DQN
9
CHI
6
SLM
5
TAL
30
IOW
9
3rd4950[23]
2007DAY
28
USA
14
NSH
19
SLM
9
KANWINKENTOL
10
IOWPOCMCHBERKENPOCNSHISFMLWGTWDQN
8
CHI
10
SLM31st1355[24]
15TAL
5
TOL

ARCA Menards Series East

ARCA Menards Series East results
YearTeamNo.Make12345678AMSECPtsRef
2023Venturini Motorsports25ToyotaFIFDOVNSVFRS
4
IOWIRPMLWBRI30th40[25]

* Season still in progress

References