William Venturini Sr (born February 14, 1953), nicknamed "Big Bill", is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He is the founder and co-owner of Venturini Motorsports, a team that competed in the ARCA Menards Series until 2025. As a driver, he primarily competed in the same series from 1982 through 1996. Venturini has won two ARCA championships, which came in 1987 and 1991.

Career Driving career As a driver, "Big Bill" Venturini made his ARCA Series debut in 1982. In 1983, Venturini won his first ARCA race at Flat Rock Speedway and at the end of the season he became rookie of the year and finished runner-up to Bob Dotter. Venturini backed up this performance by finishing runner-up in 1984 and 1985. After finishing third in 1986 Venturini won his first ARCA championship in 1987. After finishing fourth in the 1988 season, Venturini scaled down and only ran a part-time schedule in 1989 and 1990. Venturini won his second ARCA championship in 1991 after a consistent season. He finished third in 1992 and sixth in his last full-time season in 1994. Venturini made his last ARCA Racing Series start at the season finale at Atlanta in 1996. During his ARCA Racing Series career Venturini set the all-time qualifying records at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. Additionally, Venturini was the 1982 season champion of the International Racing Association.

Venturini made thirteen NASCAR starts across all three national series. He made his Winston Cup Series debut at Michigan International Speedway in 1989. In his seven Cup Series starts, his best finish was eighteenth at the 1990 Winston 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Venturini attempted to qualify for the Daytona 500 in 1990 and 1991 but failed to qualify on both occasions.

Team owner career

Bill, his wife Cathy, and his son Billy, also a retired driver, are the co-owners of Venturini Motorsports, a team which competes full-time with three cars in the ARCA Menards Series (Nos. 15, 20, 25) as well as one part-time car (the No. 55). They have competed in that series for decades to much success. In 2020, they began fielding teams in the ARCA Menards Series East (the No. 20 part-time and the No. 25 full-time) and West (one car part-time).

It has been a tradition since 2006 for "Big Bill" to kiss one of his drivers in victory lane if they win a race. The first time he did it was when Billy was still competing in ARCA as a driver and won an ARCA race at Salem that year, and they continued it in 2007 when the Venturini's turned their team into a driver development team.

Personal life Venturini was born in Chicago, Illinois, as the son of Tony Venturini, an amateur racing driver who began his stock car racing career at the historic Soldier Field, also in Chicago. His father competed against NASCAR drivers such as Tom Pistone and Fred Lorenzen. Venturini's wife Cathy was part of his pit crew during his championship winning season in 1987. His son Billy also became a racing driver and competed in the ARCA Racing Series from 1994 through 2007. His daughter Wendy currently works in NASCAR as a radio reporter for the Performance Racing Network and formerly on TV for Speed and Fox as well.

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.) Winston Cup Series NASCAR Winston Cup Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Pts Ref 1989 Venturini Motorsports 35 Chevy DAY CAR ATL RCH DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL CLT DOV SON POC MCH DAY POC TAL GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR CLT NWS CAR PHO ATL 100th 52 1990 DAY RCH CAR ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL CLT DOV SON POC MCH DAY POC TAL GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO ATL 45th 349 1991 DAY RCH CAR ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL CLT DOV SON POC MCH DAY POC TAL GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO ATL 74th 89 1992 DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL CLT DOV SON POC MCH DAY POC TAL GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO ATL NA - 1993 DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL SON CLT DOV POC MCH DAY NHA POC TAL GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO ATL NA - 1994 DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL SON CLT DOV POC MCH DAY NHA POC TAL IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO ATL NA -

Daytona 500 Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish 1990 Venturini Motorsports Chevrolet DNQ 1991 DNQ

Busch Series NASCAR Busch Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 Pts Ref 1982 Venturini Motorsports 35 Buick DAY RCH BRI MAR DAR HCY SBO CRW RCH LGY DOV HCY CLT ASH HCY SBO CAR CRW SBO HCY LGY IRP BRI HCY RCH MAR CLT HCY MAR 126th 124 1983 65 Pontiac DAY RCH CAR HCY MAR NWS SBO GPS LGY DOV BRI CLT SBO HCY ROU SBO ROU CRW ROU SBO HCY LGY IRP GPS BRI HCY DAR RCH NWS SBO MAR ROU CLT HCY MAR 130th 91 1984 35 DAY RCH CAR HCY MAR DAR ROU NSV LGY MLW DOV CLT SBO HCY ROU SBO ROU HCY IRP LGY SBO BRI DAR RCH NWS CLT HCY CAR MAR 113th - 1985 DAY CAR HCY BRI MAR DAR SBO LGY DOV CLT SBO HCY ROU IRP SBO LGY HCY MLW BRI DAR RCH NWS ROU CLT HCY CAR MAR 103rd - 1995 Colburn Racing 36 Ford DAY CAR RCH ATL NSV DAR BRI HCY NHA NZH CLT DOV MYB GLN MLW TAL SBO IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT CAR HOM NA -

Craftsman Truck Series NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Pts Ref 1995 Venturini Motorsports 35 Chevy PHO TUS SGS MMR POR EVG I70 LVL BRI MLW CNS HPT IRP FLM RCH MAR NWS SON MMR PHO 78th 116 1996 HOM PHO POR EVG TUS CNS HPT BRI NZH MLW LVL I70 IRP FLM GLN NSV RCH NHA MAR NWS SON MMR PHO LVS 119th 70

ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.) ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Pts Ref 1982 35 Buick NSV DAY TAL FRS CMS WIN NSV TAT TAL FRS BFS NA 0 Venturini Motorsports 25 Buick MIL SND 1983 35 Pontiac DAY NSV TAL LPR LPR ISF IRP SSP FRS BFS WIN LPR POC TAL MCS FRS MIL DSF ZAN SND 2nd 3075 1984 DAY ATL TAL TAL 2nd 2425 Chevy CSP SMS FRS MCS LCS IRP FRS ISF DSF TOL MGR 1985 ATL DAY ATL TAL ATL SSP CSP FRS IRP OEF ISF DSF TOL 2nd 2585 Pontiac IRP 1986 25 Chevy ATL DAY ATL TAL SIR SSP FRS KIL CSP TAL BLN ISF DSF TOL MCS ATL 3rd 2385 1987 DAY ATL TAL DEL ACS TOL ROC POC FRS KIL TAL FRS ISF INF DSF SLM ATL 1st 4245 1988 DAY ATL TAL FRS PCS ROC POC WIN KIL ACS SLM POC TAL DEL FRS ISF DSF SLM ATL 4th 3740 1989 DAY ATL KIL TAL FRS POC KIL HAG POC TAL DEL FRS ISF TOL DSF SLM ATL NA 0 1990 DAY ATL KIL TAL FRS POC KIL TOL HAG POC TAL TOL DSF WIN DEL 16th 1605 35 MCH ISF ATL 1991 DAY 1st 5085 25 ATL KIL TAL TOL FRS POC MCH KIL FRS DEL POC TAL HPT MCH ISF TOL DSF TWS ATL 1992 DAY FIF TWS TAL TOL KIL POC MCH FRS KIL NSH DEL POC HPT FRS ISF TOL DSF TWS SLM ATL 3rd 5265 1993 DAY FIF TWS TAL KIL CMS FRS TOL POC MCH FRS POC KIL ISF DSF TOL SLM WIN NA 0 Bill Egbert ATL 1994 DAY TAL FIF LVL KIL TOL FRS MCH DMS POC POC KIL FRS INF I70 ISF DSF TOL SLM WIN ATL 6th 4515 1995 Venturini Motorsports DAY ATL TAL FIF KIL FRS MCH I80 MCS FRS POC POC KIL FRS SBS LVL ISF DSF SLM WIN ATL NA 0 1996 DAY ATL SLM TAL FIF LVL CLT CLT KIL FRS POC MCH FRS TOL POC MCH INF SBS ISF DSF KIL SLM WIN CLT ATL NA 0

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