NASCAR rookie Toni Breidinger’s former team sells its ‘most successful’ operation
NASCAR Truck Series driver Toni Breidinger’s former ARCA Menards Series team has announced its sale to Nitro Motorsports, marking a significant shift in the development series landscape. The news of Venturini Motorsports' sale came during a press conference held at Rockingham Speedway, where NASCAR returned after over a decade.
Venturini Motorsports, founded by Bill Venturini Sr., made its NASCAR debut in 1982 in the Xfinity Series with Venturini Sr. behind the wheel of their #35 Buick. Since its inception, the team has made several starts in the Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and the Truck Series. However, Venturini Motorsports eventually found its footing in the ARCA Series, recording 77 race wins since its debut.
Recently, Toni Breidinger's former team announced that it would be selling its operation to Nick Tucker-owned Nitro Motorsports. Renowned journalist Matt Weaver shared the update on X.
"Billy Venturini confirms that the most [most] successful ARCA Racing Series team and a development powerhouse has been sold to Nitro Motorsports," Weaver wrote.
Venturini Motorsports secured three driver championships, won by active Truck and Xfinity Series drivers Christian Eckes and Jesse Love. Moreover, the team is well known for having a full female pit crew, with whom Bill Venturini Sr. won several laurels.
Toni Breidinger made a move to Venturini Motorsports midway through the 2021 season after a brief stint with Young's Motorsports. Eventually, she landed her first full-time season in the ARCA Series with the historic team, where she secured 27 top-ten finishes before moving to the Truck Series full-time this season, piloting the #5 Toyota Tundra for Tricon Garage.
When Toni Breidinger moved back to Venturini Motorsports under the guidance of Billy Venturini
Toni Breidinger moved back to Venturini Motorsports in 2021 ahead of the Calypso Lemonade 200 at Winchester Speedway, where she barely got time to prepare for the race. However, despite the challenges, the 25-year-old secured a top-10 finish under the guidance of the team owner, Billy Venturini.
Following the end of the race, Breidinger revealed in an interview how a conversation with Billy Venturini helped set realistic goals to adapt to the new car and track.
"When everybody was out practicing, that was like my first time in the car and on that track, so I kind of had to play catch up a little bit. I talked to Billy, my team owner a little bit before we even went out to practice. He was my spotter and he's like 'What are your goals?' And I was like 'I want to finish on the lead lap,' and I started naming off these goals," Tony Breidinger said [00:51].
"He's like 'No, those aren't your goals. Let's be like super realistic here. You're here to get all laps in, learn the track and basically don't mess up and listen to what I tell you to do,' So he was super realistic with what my goal should be and I feel like we hit all the goals so I'm happy with how it went," she added.
Breidinger finished NASCAR's return to Rockingham in P18 and is currently P23 in the overall driver standings.