Patriarch, Tony Venturini competing in the No. 25 in the 1950s
Photo – Courtesy of Venturini Motorsports
The Chicagoland Venturini Family Name is among the Most Prestigious in Racing.
As the NASCAR XFINITY and ARCA teams head to Chicagoland Speedway this weekend, we celebrate Throwback Thursday by featuring Venturini Motorsports and their midwestern roots spanning six decades of racing success. Today, their name is one of the most recognized within the sport, but there are possibly some nuggets about this family that are not so well-known to race fans.
So, let’s take a stroll through the Venturini family history.
The legacy of the Venturini family began in the 1950’s when patriarch, Tony Venturini was racing stock cars at Chicago’s historic Soldier’s Field, O’Hare Stadium and Meadowdale Raceway – tracks that are now just a distant memory and unknown to most modern-day racers. Tony’s local competitors were legendary drivers ‘Tiger Tom’ Pistone and NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee ‘Fast Freddie’ Lorenzen – together they were early pioneers of the sport.
As with other racing families, Tony inspired his son, Bill Venturini Sr to follow in his footsteps at the track. In the 1970’s Bill Sr dedicated himself to the family legacy and took their interest in racing to new heights. Bill Sr, raced may local area tracks including, Rockford Speedway, Illiana Speedway, Grundy County Speedway and Waukegan Speedway before moving on to successful careers in the ARCA and NASCAR series’. He was not only competitive and passionate about his time behind the wheel, his dream was to succeed at the highest levels of stock car racing.
And succeed he did!
Bill Venturini Sr was a NASCAR driver, then focused his career in the ARCA Racing Series becoming Rookie of the Year in 1983 and a champion in 1987 and 1993. As evidence of his forward thinking, Venturini put together an all-female pit crew led by his wife Cathy. He says they played a major role in his first ARCA Championship in 1987.
Bill Sr holds qualifying records that still stand today at Daytona International Speedway, as well as Talladega Superspeedway. His historic career is held within the walls of the International Motorsports Hall of Fame located outside Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama.
Third-generation Billy Venturini Jr, took his turn behind the wheel in 1994, again competing in NASCAR and the ARCA Racing Series for more than ten years. Billy made his local mark driving at Rockford Speedway and becoming the only family driver to race at Chicagoland Speedway with seven starts between 2001 and 2007. In 162 ARCA starts, Billy earned 28 top-five and 75 top-ten finishes including a victory at historic Salem Speedway. Bill Sr, told us on Fan4Racing radio on Monday night that…watching Billy win and celebrate in victory lane was an emotional experience and highlight of his entire career.
Although, he was successful as a driver, it is Billy’s visionary outlook that is his greatest accomplishment.
In 2007, Billy Venturini’s vision took the family legacy to the next step of their success by reinventing Venturini Motorsports as the country’s premier NASCAR Driver Development program. In 2015, the organization partnered with the most successful ARCA driver, Frank Kimmel, who has over 80 series’ victories, to mentor young drivers hoping to hone their skills enough to succeed at the highest levels of NASCAR. It was surprising move, as Kimmel was a long-time rival throughout their parallel ARCA Racing careers.
Wendy Venturini – Bill Sr’s daughter and Billy’s sister – is popular among race fans and making her own mark in the family history. Also following her father’s footsteps, Wendy is a broadcast reporter, calling ARCA Racing on Motor Racing Network/MRN radio. Earlier in her career, Wendy was a pit reporter with FOX Sports, SPEED Channel, and NASCAR Race Hub.
Since ARCA’s inaugural race at Chicagoland Speedway in 2001, Venturini has an impressive track stat sheet. The formidable ARCA team has compiled 29 career starts with 21 different drivers at Chicago area track which include three pole awards, two wins (Scott Lagasse Jr. ’09/Kevin Swindell ’12), nine top-five and 19 top-ten finishes.
Since 1989 Venturini Motorsports is now based in Concord, NC, so, when their schedule brings them to Chicago, it’s like coming home. This weekend at Chicagoland Speedway, Venturini Motorsports drivers include, Bill Kimmel, Daniel Suarez and Cody Coughlin and they’re looking to continue the Venturini’s ‘hometown’ success with family and friends.
The SCOTT 150 will be part of a two-race doubleheader at Chicagoland Speedway with the ARCA Racing Series practice on Friday, June 19th, then qualifying and the race on Saturday, June 20th. The SCOTT 150 will begin at 6 p.m. CT, 7 p.m. ET and will be live on Fox Sports 2. The NASCAR XFINITY Series will race after the ARCA race, with an expected start-time of 8:30 p.m.
Watch for more Venturini Motorsports features this weekend, as the Fan4Racing team meet with their drivers as they prepare for the SCOTT 150 at Chicagoland Speedway.