After finishing third in the season opener restrictor plate event at Daytona International Speedway, ARCA RE/MAX Series driver Billy Venturini had high hopes of slashing that finish and finally making his mark in victory circle in the second and final restrictor plate event of the season at Talladega Speedway last weekend.
The weekend started off on the right note for the Venturini Motorsports team after nailing the fifth fastest time behind several of the well-funded teams competing in the 300-mile event. With one more session before qualifying, the team put their heads together with the thoughts of improving Billy’s Pontiac Grand Prix before qualifying.
In qualifying, Venturini maneuvered a fast lap around the 2.666-mile Superspeedway. Piloting the No. 25 Central Merchant Services Pontiac, he posted a fast lap in 51.883 seconds equaling a speed of 184.569 MPH. While it wasn’t the pole speed, Venturini did land the fourth position, and the second best for a full time ARCA RE/MAX Series team.
Usually in restrictor plate racing, the competition is stout, the racing is fierce, and the accidents sometimes are unforgivable. However, starting near the front gave the team a better opportunity of avoiding “the eye of the storm”, which usually is where the craziness occurs.
With a strong starting spot in the final ARCA RE/MAX Series event, the team shifted their focus to “Happy Hour”, the final practice session before the main event. During the session, Venturini continued to pound out blistering, and impressive times eventually tapping the sixth fastest time.
Word around the garage area Friday afternoon, and Saturday morning had the Venturini Motorsports team as one of the favorites rolling into the 113-lap event.
40 drivers took the green flag shortly after 2:00pm EST, with Venturini wasting no time diving into position. With 2004 champion Frank Kimmel jumping out to the lead, the driver of car 25 would be trapped on the outside forcing to battle the machines on the inside.
Crossing the line seventh on the first lap, Venturini assumed the position and eyed towards drafting his machine into the top five. Boston Reid was Venturini’s first challenger, easily passing the Hendrick Motorsports driver development driver and notching sixth.
By the eighth marker, Billy Venturini tried pushing his machine to the front, but several machines ganged up on the Chicago, Illinois native leaving him “hanging out to dry” and Venturini hovering inside the top-ten.
Lap 15 saw Venturini march his way back into the top-five before the first yellow flag waived approaching lap twenty as Christi Passmore in the No. 91 GAP Roofing Ford Taurus took a vicious hit ending her day.
On the restart, Venturini began to put the pressure on the No. 5 of veteran Bobby Gerhart. Two laps later saw him taking a look on passing Gerhart with help of the No. 10 of Denny Hamlin but the caution flag waived sending the driver back into the fourth position.
First round of pit stops took place under the caution where the Venturini Motorsports crew bolted on new Hoosier tires, and added Sunoco Racing fuel.
With several drivers electing to stay out, Venturini restarted inside the top-thirty. Drafting his way back towards the front, the now North Carolina native knew he had to use patience while navigating his Central Merchant Services machine around the track.
On his bid to return to the front, Venturini avoided a multi-car pileup beginning in front of him. Several cars made contact ahead of him with Venturini looking low and squeezing by the accident scene.
During the caution Venturini via the radio told the SPEED Channel broadcasters, “The car is really awesome today, it’s incredible in the draft. I’m really happy with our No. 25 Central Merchant Service Pontiac.” In just a few laps, Venturini had motored into the top-15.
Back to green, the former NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver became a man on a mission slicing and dicing through his colleagues looking for the front draft.
By lap 55, he found the lead pack, which had expanded into a group of ten cars. Another multi-car incident started behind Venturini a few circuits later as Frank Kimmel blew a tire collecting several top-notch racecars including Klas Graf, Jason Jarrett, and Todd Bowsher. All were done for the day.
The incident allowed Venturini the opportunity for another pit stop; everyone had hoped it would be their final. With the crew punching out an impressive stop, it was all for nothing as ARCA officials penalized the team for a safety violation. The violation would cost the team one lap, putting them off the pace with the leaders.
On the restart, Venturini gained an advantage over his other competitors after exiting the pits, shifting through the gears he came to the green flag faster than the leader and passed him going into turn one, and when Benny Chastain wrecked on the frontstretch putting the caution back out, the second generation driver regained his lap.
The team would once again make another pit stop as Billy felt a vibration during his last stint. He restarted 17th.
Once again mastering his way through the field, Venturini would attract the lead pack just a few markers later, claiming the sixth position with 28 laps remaining.
With help from Denny Hamlin, the two-drafted pass rookie Chris Moore, once again putting Venturini into the top-five. However, Hamlin got a run going into turn one, putting Venturini back in sixth.
Counting down to the end, the driver knew it was time to get the job done, pushing himself into the fourth position inside of 19 laps remaining.
With rookies all around him, Venturini looked to pull a veteran move and gun his No. 25 Pontiac into the lead.
On lap 96, Reed Sorenson in the No. 77 Dodge who was behind Venturini made contact with the No. 7 of Boston Reid sending Reid into Venturini and the two locked horns heading towards the wall.
Needless to say a rookie mistake took two cars out for a chance at their first victory.
“That’s not how I expected to finish my season,” said Billy Venturini. “We had a car that was totally capable of winning today. All we can do now is put this incident behind us and get ready for next year.”
A dejected driver would finish 24th completing 96 of the scheduled 113 laps.
Blake Feese, who wowed the ARCA regulars with a win at Nashville drafted to his second victory ahead of Reed Sorenson, Danny Hamlin, Ryan Hemphill, and Brent Sherman.
After the accident the team wondered what could have been…
It wasn’t quite the finish that the Venturini Motorsports team drew up, but the team can rebuild their Pontiac and head to Daytona in 2005 with the “down not out approach”.
In 22 ARCA RE/MAX Series events this season, Venturini scored six top-fives and 12 top-ten finishes enroute to a fourth place finish in points standings.
Venturini will join the rest of the top-ten finishers at the 2004 ARCA RE/MAX Series Awards Banquet this December in Covington, Kentucky.
