| Indianapolis, Indiana (December 12, 2016) – Venturini Motorsports officially wrapped up the 2016 racing season Saturday night at the 64th annual ARCA Racing Series National Championship Awards banquet at the Indiana Convention Center in downtown Indianapolis.
Celebrating another successful season, Venturini Motorsports, with its four team victories, were among an elite group of ARCA teams and individuals honored for their 2016 achievements.
 Highlighted by team driver Dalton Sargeant’s SCOTT Rookie of the Year (ROY) award, Venturini Motorsports also claimed General Tire Superspeedway Challenge Championship honors.
Sargeant, with an impressive 5.9 average race finish, became the third driver for Venturini Motorsports to earn ROY honors and the second over the last three seasons. Team owner and two-time ARCA Series Champion, Bill Venturini, won ROY in 1983 and Justin Boston earned the award in 2013.
The General Tire Superspeedway Challenge is a special championship within the season awarding the team (car) with the best combined finishes in ARCA’s eight speedway races. The events included Daytona, Talladega, Michigan, Chicagoland, Kentucky, Kansas and two races at Pocono.
Venturini Motorsports’ Dalton Sargeant and William Byron (No.55 Toyota Camry) combined to win the 2016 General Tire Superspeedway Challenge. Sargeant, who competed in seven out of eight General Tire Superspeedway Challenge races, earned two top-3, four top-5 and six top-10 series finishes. William Byron, named 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year, kicked-off the ARCA Series season finishing second at Daytona while driving VMS’ No.55 Toyota.
 Driver Tom Hessert (No.25 Toyota Camry) was recognized for his career best second-place finish in ARCA’s overall national championship point standings. Hessert, a ten year series veteran competing in his first season with Venturini Motorsports, claimed one victory, his sixth of his career, two runner-up finishes, seven top-five and 15 top-10 finishes to go along with two Menards Pole Award presented by Ansell.
Venturini Motorsports, featuring three full-time teams (No. 15, 25 and 55 Toyota Camrys) during the 2016 season, finished second (No.55), third (No.25) and eighth (No.15) in ARCA’s Owner Points Championship standings.
In all, seventeen drivers competed under the Venturini Motorsports banner in 2016. With 61 combined driver starts, this exceptional group combined for 4 wins, 25 Top-5 Finishes, 43 Top-10 Finishes and 2 Menards Pole Awards.
VMS’ 2016 Driver Roster included; Tom Hessert, Dalton Sargeant, Christopher Bell, Christian Eckes, Zane Smith, Noah Gragson, William Byron, Matt Tifft, Cole Williams, Nicole Behar, Jake Griffin, Dakoda Armstrong, Trista Stevenson, Landon Huffman, Tanner Thorson, Mark Thompson and Ken Schrader.
Anticipating 2017, Venturini Motorsports looks ahead to its 35th year of ARCA Series competition. Widely known for their driver development success, VMS has recorded 43-team victories during their longstanding series involvement. Thirty of VMS’s all-time victories have been recorded since 2008. |
