September 2, 2024 (Concord, NC) – Brent Crews was on cruise control leading all 102-laps during Sunday night’s ARCA Menards Series Southern 100 at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds. Powered by his strong JBL Toyota Crews started the night from the second spot and took the lead from pole sitter Sawalich on the opening lap and never looked back.

“A good spotter is crucial [when it comes] to telling me where everyone is at and coaching me through lap times,” Crews said. “Growing up on the dirt path was a big part [of this win] as well, being able to race midgets and stuff like that. It helped a lot, and I’m just grateful to be here.”

Despite dominating the overtime event the sixteen-year old driver had to overcome some personal adversity to claim his second career victory in just his seventh overall series start.

“I knew we were going to be alright,” Crews said. “The Lord was guiding and directing me there. I’ve been sick all week and had to race Friday night, too. It’s been a struggle, but I have to thank everyone at Venturini Motorsports for bringing me this hot rod. [Everyone] got to see how fast it was, and I’m blessed to drive it.”

Crew’s VMS teammate, Kris Wright finished fourth while Taylor Reimer and Toni Breidinger crossed the stripe seventh and ninth respectfully, while Amber Balcaen finished one spot outside the top-10 in the eleventh position.

Next up for the ARCA Menards Series will be the second and final road course event on the calendar, Watkins Glen International on Sept. 13. The General Tire 100 at the Glen will commence at 5 p.m. ET with FS1 providing live coverage.

August 28, 2024 (Concord, NC) – Arguably the most diverse national touring series on the planet, the ARCA Menards Series takes the show on the road Labor Day Weekend for the running of the Southern Illinois 100 at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds.

Featuring several types of racing disciplines the ARCA Menards Series stands out when it comes to racetrack diversity. The second of two dirt races on ARCA’s annual schedule, DuQuoin’s dirt mile, along with road course racing, superspeedway racing and short track racing easily makes the point.

Returning to defend their 2023 victory at DuQuoin with driver Jesse Love, Venturini Motorsports brings a new lineup in hopes of capturing the team’s thirteenth overall win on dirt since 2013.

Venturini Motorsports’ Sunday lineup will include drivers Kris Wright, Toni Breidinger, Amber Balcaen, Brent Crews and Taylor Reimer.

Kris Wright (No.15 F.N.B. Corporation Toyota) with six top-fives on the season including a runner up finish at Talladega will take the wheel in search of his first victory of the season. Running the full ARCA schedule the 29-year old driver is third overall in ARCA’s championship driver point standings.

Brent Crews (No.20 JBL Toyota) returns to the lineup making his seventh overall start of his career. Considered one of the race favorites, the sixteen-year old driver from Oklahoma has four top-5 finishes including a win on the Springfield dirt and a runner up finish at DuQuoin last season.

Amber Balecan (No.22 ICON Direct Toyota) continues her full season efforts looking for her seventh top-ten finish of the year. The Winnepeg, Canadian born driver finished tenth two weeks ago on the Springfield dirt and is seventh overall in ARCA’s driver point standings.

Toni Breidinger (No.25 Sunoco Toyota) is determined to capture her tenth top-10 finish of the season when she makes her sixteenth start of the 2024 ARCA campaign. The 24-year old fan favorite from San Francisco finished sixth two weeks ago on the Springfield dirt and is currently fifth in ARCA’s championship driver point standings.

Taylor Reimer (No.55 BuzzBallz Toyota) returns to the track after finishing third at Springfield and making history with teammate Isabella Robusto, as the two drivers became the first women duo to ever finish top-three in ARCA/NASCAR competition. This will be the 24-year old driver’s third ever ARCA start.

The ARCA Menards Series Southern Illinois 100 from the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds will broadcast live of Fox Sports 1, Sunday, September 1st starting at 8:30 p.m. ET.

August 21, 2024 (Concord, NC) – Looking to cap off a successful month Venturini Motorsports travels to Wisconsin as the ARCA Menards Series invades the Milwaukee Mile for Sunday’s Sprecher 150 ARCA East combination event.

Coming off an exciting weekend at Springfield with Isabella Robusto and Taylor Reimer finishing inside the top-three the team hopes to continue their recent success over the last three weeks. During this time VMS drivers’ have combined for six top-5’s and eleven top-10 finishes.

Setting the driver lineup for Milwaukee the team will unload a formidable group led by Kris Wright, Gio Ruggerio, Amber Balecan, Toni Breidinger and Dean Thompson.

Kris Wright (No.15 F.N.B. Corporation Toyota) with a runner up finish at Elko and fifth-place finish at Michigan takes his momentum to Milwaukee looking for his first win of the season. The Pittsburgh area native has recently moved into the third spot in ARCA’s championship driver point standings.

Gio Ruggerio (No.20 JBL Toyota) currently third in the ARCA East division makes his first ARCA national series start since finishing fifth at Indianapolis back in July. The eighteen-year old driver who won the season opening East event at Pensacola has put together an impressive stat sheet in the national series boasting an average finish of third in five series starts.

Amber Balecan (No.22 ICON Direct Toyota) riding back-to-back top-ten finishes at Springfield and Michigan eyes Milwaukee to continue her recent success. The Winnipeg Canadian born driver with six top-ten finishes on the season is seventh in the overall driver point standings.

Toni Breidinger (No.25 Gener8tor Toyota) coming into her own this season looks to capture her fourth consecutive top-ten finish of the season. The 24-year old fan favorite has averaged an 8.3 finish in the ten races completed on the season. Coming off a strong run at Springfield Breidinger moved up to the fifth spot in the championship driver point standings.

Dean Thompson (No.55 Thompson Pipeline Group Toyota) will make his fourth start of the season for VMS. Thompson who runs full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series finished third at Kansas and has tallied three top-ten finishes in ARCA competition during the 2024 season.

Sunday’s ARCA Menards Series Sprecher 150 from the Milwaukee Mile will broadcast live of Fox Sports 1 starting at 1:00 p.m. ET.

August 19, 2024 (Concord, NC) – It was a historic day in the ARCA Menards Series when Isabella Robusto and Taylor Reimer finished second and third in Sunday’s event at the Illinois State Fairground’s Springfield dirt mile.

Venturini Motorsports drivers Robusto (JBL Toyota) and Reimer (BuzzBallz Toyota) became the first pair of female drivers to earn a top-three finish in the same race.

Adding to Venturini’s team success at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, Toni Briedinger (Sunoco Toyota) finished sixth, Kris Wright (F.N.B. Corporation Toyota) placed seventh and Amber Balcaen (ICON Direct Toyota) claimed her second consecutive top-ten finishing eighth.

Continuing to impress in ARCA competition, Isabella Robusto wowed the packed grandstands as she masterly drove her JBL Toyota up through the field after starting in the rear due to mechanical issues prior to qualifying. This was Robusto’s second runner up finish on the season and her fourth top-five.

Dirt track racer Taylor Reimer made her presence known qualifying and finishing third in just her second career ARCA Menards Series start. Reimer finished in eighth-place in her series’ debut at the Springfield Mile last season. The spirited driver will rejoin the team for the second leg of ARCA’s dirt races at DuQuoin on Labor Day weekend.

VMS and the ARCA Menards Series will resume action on Sunday, August 25 at the Milwaukee Mile. The race will air live on Fox Sports 1 at 1:00 p.m. ET.

August 16, 2024 (Brooklyn, MI) – Venturini Motorsports had a solid night Friday at Michigan International Speedway (MIS) in the ARCA Menards Series Henry Ford Health 200. Jake Finch, driver of the No. 20 Phoenix Toyota Camry, and teammate Kris Wright, driver of the No. 15 F.N.B. Corporation Toyota Camry, battled all race to claim top-5 finishes.

VMS had four drivers capture top-10 finishes, with Toni Breidinger, driver of the No. 25 Sunoco Toyota Camry, claiming eighth and Amber Balcaen, driver of the No. 22 Icon Toyota Camry, getting her fifth top-10 finish of the season.

Teammates Jake Finch and Toni Breidinger had to start from the rear of the field due to work needing to be done on the cars, but by lap 40, they both were inside the top-10. With 30 to go, one last caution came out. The team was sitting third, fourth, ninth, tenth, and twelfth. On the restart, Finch along with two others, took it three wide as Finch grabbed second. With the top-5 all bunched up together, Finch fell back to fourth as the field came to two to go.

The final results for the Henry Ford Health 200 were Finch in fourth, Wright in fifth, Breidinger in eighth, Balcaen in tenth, and Dean in fourteenth.

For more on Venturini Motorsports, please visit venturinimotorsports.com, like them on Facebook (Venturini Motorsports), and follow them on Instagram (@venturinimotorsports) X (@VentuirniMotor) and TikTok (@venturiniMotorsports)

August 15, 2024 (Concord, NC) – This year’s recipient of the NASCAR Diversity Award and the ARCA Menards Series all-time leader in team victories, Venturini Motorsports embarks on re-writing NASCAR history when the team is represented by four women drivers at the Illinois State Fairground’s Springfield Dirt Mile on Sunday, August 18.

Setting a new benchmark for female drivers competing in a single event under the same team banner, Venturini Motorsports will feature Toni Breidinger, Amber Balcaen, Isabella Robusto and Taylor Reimer.

“Over the past couple of decades we’ve seen more women drivers making a positive impact on our sport,” said team owner Billy Venturini. “Although female drivers competing at this level is nothing new I’ve seen more and more talented women drivers coming up the ranks the last few years. These women on our team are great role models for younger girls looking at our sport. This weekend will be special but honestly I don’t really look at it as gender specific – for us it’s just another day at the track with our
drivers.”

Toni Breidinger, driver of the No.25 Sunoco Toyota, is a 24-year-old race car driver hailing from San Francisco. Breidinger has made fifty-seven career ARCA Menards Series starts, all with VMS, since 2018 and is in the midst of her first full season in 2024. With seven top-ten finishes in twelve starts in the year, Breidinger currently occupies the fifth spot in the ARCA Menards Series championship point standings.

Amber Balcaen, a Canadian driver from Winnipeg, Manitoba, also is competing for the ARCA Menards Series championship in 2024. The 32-year old driver of the No.22 Icon Direct Toyota has thirty-five career starts since 2022 and is currently sixth in the series standings.

Isabella Robusto, driver of the No.20 JBL Toyota, is a member of Toyota Racing Development’s TD2 program. Competing in selected events during the 2024 season, the 19-year-old from Fort Mill, South Carolina has impressed with three top-five and six top-ten finishes in eight starts across the ARCA Menards Series platform (National, East and West), including a pair of runner-up finishes at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway (East) and Irwindale Speedway (West).

Taylor Reimer, from Tulsa, Oklahoma, is set to make her season debut at Springfield. The 24-year-old driver will be making her second career start on Sunday driving the No.55 BuzzBallz Toyota. Reimer, who grew up racing on dirt, made her ARCA Menards Series debut with VMS in 2023 at Springfield and finished eighth.

Fielding multiple female drivers is not out of the norm for Venturini Motorsports. In 2018, the team set the record for the most female drivers from one team in a single race at Chicagoland Speedway with three: Breidinger, Natalie Decker, and Leilani Munter. The team is also known for pioneering the first all-female pit crew in NASCAR history. Known as the Ultra Blue Crew, the women were the primary crew featured in 1985, 1986 and the team’s first championship season in 1987.

Sunday’s historic race from Springfield will be broadcast live on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) starting at 2 p.m. ET. Live timing and scoring data and race audio will be available at ARCARacing.com.

Press Inquiries: Contact Tom Venturini (PR@Venturinimotorsports.com)

August 13, 2024 (Concord, NC) – The ARCA Menards Series returns to action in full force this weekend with races at Michigan International Speedway (MIS) Friday evening followed by Sunday’s matinee at the Springfield dirt mile.

Presented with two completely different styles of racing over the span of three days Venturini Motorsports has been hard at work preparing it’s fleet of Toyota Camry’s for the upcoming weekend. First up, Friday’s Henry Ford Health 200 at Michigan Int’l Speedway.

Returning to the seat at Michigan are series’ regulars Kris Wright (No.15 FNB Corporation), Amber Balcaen (No.22 Icon Direct Camry) and Toni Breidinger (No.25 Sunoco Camry). The three mainstays will by joined by teammates Jake Finch (No.20 Phoenix Camry) and Gus Dean (No. 55 Palmetto Grain Camry).

Competing limited race schedules with VMS this season both Finch and Dean have each found victory lane. Dean opened the season with a dramatic victory at Daytona while Finch claimed his first career ARCA win at Talladega.

Kris Wright, coming off a wild third place finish two weeks ago at Elko Speedway occupies the fourth position in ARCA’s national championship driver point standings. Toni Breidinger with seven top-10 finishes on the season is currently sixth overall with Amber Balcaen sitting seventh.

A stark contract to Michigan’s ultra fast paved oval, Sunday’s feature will take place at the legendary dirt mile located inside the Illinois State Fairgrounds.

Sunday’s ARCA 200 from Springfield will set a new milestone for VMS as the team will make NASCAR history with four female drivers competing under one team’s banner. Joining Balcaen and Breidger on the dirt will be Isabella Robusto and Taylor Reimer.

Isabella Robusto, driving her No.20 JBL Toyota has been a model of consistency this season in limited action. The 17-year old finished fourth in her last ARCA Menards Series start and has accumulated three top-5 and six top-10 finishes overall across all of ARCA’s platforms (National, East & West).

Taylor Reimer, a member of the Toyota Development program will make her season debut with VMS driving the No.55 BuzzBallz Toyota at Springfield. The 24-year old driver from Tulsa, Oklahoma made her ARCA Series debut last season with VMS finishing eighth at Springfield.

Friday’s Michigan race will be carried live on FS1 starting at 6 p.m. ET and Sunday’s race from Springfield will broadcast at 2 p.m. ET on FS1.

For more on Venturini Motorsports, please visit venturinimotorsports.com, like them on Facebook (Venturini Motorsports), and follow them on Instagram (Venturinimotorsports) X (@VentuirniMotor) and TikTok (VenturiniMotorsports).

August 5, 2024 (Concord, NC) – Short track racing at its best! With rain in the air and dramatic lightning illuminating the night skies Saturday’s ARCA Menards Series Shore Lunch 250 at Elko Speedway will go down as one of the most dramatic finishes in recent years.

In front of a near capacity crowd the 250-lap event came down to a restart and mad dash to determine the race winner. Drivers Lavar Scott, William Sawalich and Venturini Motorsports’ (VMS) Kris Wright took the green flag restart with 7-laps remaining.

Wright, who ran inside the top-5 the entire night closed in on the bumpers of Scott and Sawalich running side-by-side as the three drivers pushed their cars to the limit as the laps counted down.

As the cars crossed the stripe for the white flag the intensity grew as the drivers ran down the backstretch making contact. Entering the final turn, Wright dove to the inside, going three-wide on the exit; all three drivers got sideways taking the checkered flag in dramatic fashion. In the end Sawalich inched out Scott by 0.011 seconds with Wright spinning across the stripe 4/100th of a second behind.

VMS driver Isabella Robusto continued to impress as she kept her No. 55 Mobil 1 Toyota in contention all night. The 17-year-old driver showed resilience as a mid-race incident racing for the top spot threatened her chances, but her team jumped into action to keep her in contention.

The final results for the Shore Lunch 250 were Wright in third, Robusto in fourth, Toni Breidinger in seventh, Sean Hingorani in eighth, and Amber Balcaen rounding out the night in twelfth.

The ARCA Menards Series season continues in two weeks with the annual trip to Michigan International Speedway for the running of the Henry Ford Health 200 on Friday, August 16. Fans unable to attend in person will be able to watch the race at 6 p.m. ET on FS1.

For more on Venturini Motorsports, please visit venturinimotorsports.com, like them on Facebook (Venturini Motorsports), and follow them on Instagram (Venturinimotorsports) X (@VentuirniMotor) and TikTok (VenturiniMotorsports).

July 31, 2024 (Concord, NC) – Coming off a disappointing team showing last weekend at Salem Speedway Venturini Motorsports returns to action in Saturday’s ARCA Menards Series’ Shore Lunch 250 at Elko Speedway.

With a full fleet of Toyota Camry’s traveling to Minnesota’s Elko Speedway VMS will feature series regulars Kris Wright (No.15 F.N.B. Corporation Toyota), Amber Balcaen (No.22 ICON Toyota) and Toni Breidinger (No.25 Sunoco Toyota Camry).

After eleven events Kris Wright currently sits fourth in the national driver standings while Toni and Amber are in striking distance occupying the sixth and seventh spots in the 2024 championship rankings.

Returning to competition for VMS this week are standout drivers Sean Hingorani (No.20 Fidelity Capital Toyota) and Isabella Robusto (No.55 Mobil 1 Toyota).

Sean Hingorani, last season’s ARCA West Champion returns to ARCA’s premier series after sweeping back-to-back races at Irwindale Speedway over Fourth of July Weekend in the ARCA West Series. This will be his second start of the season in the ARCA Menards Series, the 17-year old driver from California finished third at Berlin in June.

Toyota Development driver Isabella Robusto returns to the seat looking for redemption after a heartbreaking outcome in her last ARCA West appearance with VMS. Making it a habit running up front this year, Robusto was 20-laps away from winning in the West Series before her right front tire gave way ending her night early during the second race at Irwindale Speedway in early July.

In five ARCA West Series starts on the season the highly touted female driver has (2) top-5 and (4) top-10 finishes to her credit. She finished sixth at Phoenix in her only ARCA Menards Series start of the season.

The Shore Lunch 250 presented by Dutch Boy Paints will air live from Elko’s tight .0375 paved oval on Fox Sports 1 beginning at 9pm EST.

For more on Venturini Motorsports, please visit venturinimotorsports.com, like them on Facebook (Venturini Motorsports), and follow them on Instagram (@venturinimotorsports) X (@VentuirniMotor) and TikTok (@venturiniMotorsports)

July 24, 2024 (Concord, NC) – When it comes to the topic of historic short track racing in the Midwest it would be impossible not to put the high banks of Salem Speedway at the top of the list.

Built in 1947, Salem Speedway has hosted the ARCA Menards Series for 69-years. Since this time many notable drivers have crossed through Salem’s gate. Among those names include series legends like Jack Bowsher, Ramo Stott and Iggy Katona, along with and many NASCAR stars like Benny Parsons, Bobby Allison, Ken Schrader, Alex Bowman and Christopher Bell.

On Saturday, July 27 the ARCA Menards Series will make its 110th appearance at the famed southern half-mile Indiana bullring.

Venturini Motorsports, the most decorated team in ARCA’s history with 104 wins returns in search of its twelfth victory on the historic short track.

Leading the charge at Berlin are series regulars Kris Wright (No.15 F.N.B. Corporation Toyota), Amber Balcaen (No.22 ICON Toyota) and Toni Breidinger (No.25 Toyota Racing Camry).

Kris Wright currently sits fourth in the national driver standings while Toni and Amber are hot in pursuit sitting fifth and sixth in the championship rankings.

Also competing at Salem this week with VMS are former series winners from earlier in the season, Gus Dean (No.55 Palmetto Grain Brokerage Toyota) and Jake Finch (No.20 Phoenix Toyota).

Dean started the season winning at Daytona International Speedway handing VMS its 100th team series win and Jake Finch drove to victory lane at Talladega Superspeedway for his first career series win back in April.

Saturday night’s ARCA 200 from Salem Speedway will begin at 8 p.m. ET. with live coverage on FS1.