William Venturini (born February 14, 1953), nicknamed "Big Bill",
is an American former professional
stock car racing
Stock car racing is a form of Auto racing, automobile racing run on oval track racing, oval tracks and road courses. It originally used Production vehicle, production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifical ...
driver. He is the founder and co-owner of
Venturini Motorsports
Venturini Motorsports is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East, and ARCA Menards Series West. Founded in 1982 by Bill Venturini Sr., Venturini Motorsports is the ...
, a team that competes in the
ARCA Menards Series
The ARCA Menards Series is an American stock car racing, stock car series, the premier division of the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA). It is considered a minor, semi-professional league of stock car racing, used as a feeder series into ...
. 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
Flat Rock Speedway is a race track in Monroe County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located in Ash Township just south of the city of Flat Rock along U.S. Route 24. Opened in 1953, it is owned by NASCAR and is the sister track to Toledo ...
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
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
in 1996. During his ARCA Racing Series career Venturini set the all-time qualifying records at
Daytona International Speedway
Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, Daytona Beach, Florida, United States, about north of Orlando, Florida, Orlando. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race ...
and
Talladega Superspeedway
Talladega Superspeedway (Alabama International Motor Speedway from 1969 to 1989) is a tri-oval superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. Built in 1969, the track has hosted a variety of racing events, primarily races sanctioned by NASCAR. The track is ...
.
Venturini made thirteen
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...
starts across all three national series. He made his
Winston Cup Series
The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States.
The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and fro ...
debut at
Michigan International Speedway
Michigan International Speedway (formerly named as the Michigan Speedway from 1997 to 2000) is a D-shaped oval superspeedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. It has hosted various major auto racing series throughout its existence, including NASCAR, Cham ...
in 1989. In his seven Cup Series starts, his best finish was eighteenth at the
1990
Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...
Winston 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Venturini attempted to qualify for the
Daytona 500
The Daytona 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series motor race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is the first of two Cup races held every year at Daytona, the second being the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and one of three ...
in
1990
Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...
and
1991
It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...
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
The ARCA Menards Series is an American stock car racing, stock car series, the premier division of the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA). It is considered a minor, semi-professional league of stock car racing, used as a feeder series into ...
(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 ARCA Menards Series East (formerly known by other names) is a regional stock car racing series owned and operated by the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) and the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR).
Races are h ...
(the No. 20 part-time and the No. 25 full-time) and
West
West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...
(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
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
, as the son of Tony Venturini, an amateur racing driver who began his stock car racing career at the historic
Soldier Field
Soldier Field is a multi-purpose stadium on the Near South Side, Chicago, Near South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1924 and reconstructed in 2003, the stadium has served as the home of the Chicago Bears from the National ...
, also in Chicago. His father competed against
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...
drivers such as
Tom Pistone
"Tiger" Tom Pistone (born March 17, 1929) is an American former NASCAR Grand National driver from Chicago. He made his Grand National debut in 1955. He won two races and finished 6th in championship points in the 1959 season for Carl Rupert, his ...
and
Fred Lorenzen
Frederick Lorenzen Jr. (December 30, 1934 – December 18, 2024), nicknamed "the Golden Boy", "Fast Freddie", "the Elmhurst Express" and "Fearless Freddy", was an American NASCAR driver from Elmhurst, Illinois. Active from 1958 to 1972, he won ...
. Venturini's wife Cathy was part of his
pit crew during his championship winning season in 1987. His son
Billy
Billy may refer to:
* Billy (name), a name (and list of people with the name)
* Billy (surname), a surname (and list of people with the surname)
Animals
* Billy (dog), a dog breed
* Billy (pigeon), awarded the Dickin Medal in 1945
* Billy ( ...
also became a racing driver and competed in the ARCA Racing Series from 1994 through 2007. His daughter
Wendy
Wendy is a given name generally given to girls in English-speaking countries.
In Britain during the English Civil War in the mid-1600s, a male Captain Wendy Oxford was identified by the Leveller John Lilburne as a spy reporting on his activit ...
currently works in NASCAR as a radio reporter for the
Performance Racing Network
The Performance Racing Network or PRN for short is a radio syndication network controlled by Speedway Motorsports (SMI) founded in 1981. PRN airs NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series events held at Speedway Motorsports owned tracks.
PRN fi ...
and formerly on TV for
Speed
In kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a non-negative scalar quantity. Intro ...
and
Fox
Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush").
Twelve species ...
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
=Daytona 500
=
Busch Series
Craftsman Truck Series
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.)
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Venturini, Bill
1953 births
Living people
Racing drivers from Chicago
NASCAR drivers
ARCA Menards Series drivers
NASCAR team owners