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  • Brennan Poole To Run Daytona ARCA Race for Venturini Motorsports

    Brennan Poole To Run Daytona ARCA Race for Venturini Motorsports

    After winning in his ARCA debut last year at Salem Speedway, Brennan Poole enters the 2012 season looking to have even more success. The 2011 UARA-STARS National Champion will be driving the No. 25 Adcetera-Venturini Motorsports Chevrolet in the ARCA Racing Series’ season-opening Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 at Daytona International Speedway.

    “We’ve had a lot of success at every step, but to race for a storied team like Venturini Motorsports, especially at Daytona, certainly is the highlight,” the 20-year-old said. “The Venturinis have high standards and very high expectations every time they go to Daytona. It’s my job not to let them down.”

    In four ARCA starts with Venturini Motorsports, the Woodlands, Texas native won a race and captured the Menards Pole Awards presented by Ansell at Pocono Raceway.

    “Brennan has been impressive every time he’s been in the seat for VMS,” Billy Venturini said. “He tested well in December and has been preparing for this race the entire offseason. I think he’s got a great shot, and we expect him to shine at Daytona.”

    Venturini will also serve as the crew chief for the team’s flagship entry as the No. 25 holds a key history note with the Venturini Motorsports team. The car will also be paitned in the same color scheme – red and blue – originally used by Billy Venturini during his 10-year driving career.

    Practice for the season-opening race starts on Thursday, February 16, while Menards Pole Qualifying is Friday, February 17, at 2 p.m. The race, scheduled to be televised live by SPEED, is Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET.

  • ARCA: Venturini Motorsports Signs Nelson Canache Jr.

    ARCA: Venturini Motorsports Signs Nelson Canache Jr.

    Venturini Motorsports announced today that they’ve signed Nelson Canache Jr. to drive for them full-time in 2012.

    “The ARCA Racing Series gives me the best opportunity to make the transition into stock car racing and prepare me for NASCAR trucks or Nationwide racing in the future,” the Caracas native said. “Venturini’s reputation and the success they’ve had working with many drivers was a major factor in my decision to join the team and the series.”

    Canache Jr. is a two-time champion in the Venezuelan Super Touring GT Class Series and is hoping that Venturini’s competition director Billy Venturini can help him make the transition to big time stock car racing.

    “It’s an honor to represent my country and build more awareness to U.S. stock car racing,” he said. “I feel I have the support of everyone back home and look forward to making them proud.

    “It’s going to be a challenge but working with the best team gives me the confidence I need to succeed at this level and prepare myself for the future. I have limited oval racing experience; every week will be a challenge and test me physically and mentally. Driving for Venturini gives me the best chance to learn and show people here in the States my skills.”

    To prepare for this season with Venturini, Canache spent last year racing in the Sea Leon Super Cup in Mexico and the NASCAR Whelen All American Series with Lee Faulk Racing.

    Canache’s ARCA debut will come with the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 on Saturday February 18th at Daytona International Speedway. Canache was part of the test in December, which saw him post the seventh quickest time at 186.676mph. His teammate Alex Bowman led the speeds with a speed of 188.336mph with their other three teammates joining them in the top seven.

    “There’s no question ARCA and NASCAR have attracted world class talent to our sport,” Billy Venturini said. “Nelson has proven himself as an international driver and comes to our team with tremendous talent and determination to succeed at this level in a relatively unknown series. He’s a true professional and student of his craft; he’s eager to learn and unwilling to fall back on past accomplishments. I expect him to fit into our program well and compete strongly against his competition.”

    Venturini Motorsports has had international flair before as in 2011, four of the drivers that drove their car were from outside the US. This list includes Steve Arpin (Canada), Miguel Paludo (Brazil), George Miedecke (Austrailia) and Alistair Jackson (Ireland). They’ve helped propel both Arpin and Paludo to the NASCAR national level.

  • Tom Hessert Will Return To The ARCA Racing Series in 2012

    Tom Hessert Will Return To The ARCA Racing Series in 2012

    While Tom Hessert won’t release many details about what his plans for 2012 are, he is saying one thing that is definite – he will be racing in the ARCA Racing Series.

    “I’m definitely planning on returning to the ARCA Racing Series in 2012,” Hessert said. “Whether it’s full-time or on a part-time basis is yet to be sorted out.”

    The Cherry Hill, N.J. native also adds that he vows that he will be at Daytona International Speedway on February 18th for the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200. He also wants to finish better this year after finishing 37th in last year’s running.

    “But I can tell you I’ll be at Daytona in February, so definitely looking forward to that,” Hessert, who finished sixth in points last year, said. “We didn’t have a real good Daytona last year, so definitely looking to come out this year on the better end.”

    Hessert also has made another vow, to marry his fiancée Meghan Reilly in November.

    Getting ready for Daytona and helping his bride-to-be with wedding plans isn’t all that’s on Hessert’s plate. He is also busy working for the Classic Auto Group in hometown.

    “I do most of the wholesale stuff for Classic Auto Group – buy cars for resale while we, at the same time, sell our aged inventory to make way for the newer stuff,” he said. “In terms of what we buy, it could be anything from a Ferrari to a Ford F-150, so a pretty wide range.”

  • Mikey Kile: Ready For The Challenge with Andy Belmont Racing

    In their breakout season last year with driver Chad McCumbee, Andy Belmont Racing set the bar high as they won the Bill France Four Crown Award and finished fifth in driver’s points. With that said, Mikey Kile knows the expectations are high for him this year.

    “I can’t wait to get the season going,” Kile said. “They’ve really set the bar high at Andy Belmont Racing, so it’s a tremendous challenge to take it to the next level. I believe our ModSpace team will come out of the blocks fast. This race team will start the year in full stride.”

    The Westlake, La. driver has had success before as he finished fifth in points in 2010 with Venturini Motorsports. The season begins for the 28-year-old at Daytona with the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 on February 18th.

    “I’m confident we’ll be in the championship hunt all year,” Jennifer Belmont said. “Mikey is the driver I believe can make us a contender in our flagship car. He’s always been fast at Daytona, so we’re confident he will get us off to a good start. Everyone on this race team has spent a lot of hours making sure he will have a good car. Mikey will do the rest.”

    Kile got started in racing through go-karts at a young age. Since then, he has moved up the ranks, having success at various levels. Career highlights include four carting championships, eight IMCA modified wins and 2008 USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series Rookie of the Year.

    In 2009, Kile ran some ARCA and Camping World Truck Series races for Brad Keselowski Racing. In the truck series, he qualified career-high 10th at Las Vegas and finished a career-high 11th at both Milwaukee and Gateway in the Truck Series. In the ARCA Series, he qualified a career-high 10th at Kentucky and finished a career-high fourth at Talladega.

    “It was good,” Kile said of that experience back in 2010. “Our first outing we ran at Martinsville and finished 11th. I think we ran six races and finished top-12 in three or four of the six. We were sixth quickest at Vegas and running top-10 there and top-10 at Texas and a pit stop issue there caught us outside of the top 10. It was a learning curve, but definitely running there and running good, I felt like I belonged there.”

    In 2010, he ran the full schedule for Venturini Motorsports, which led to him running some ARCA races for Venturini in 2011 and some NASCAR Camping World Truck and Nationwide races for Turner Motorsports.

    Last month, Andy Belmont Racing made it official that they had hired Mikey Kile for the entire 2012 season.

    Andy Belmont Racing also added a new crew chief to the team as they brought Jeff McClure on board. Though there will be one thing that stays the same for ABR as Modspace has come back on board.

    “ModSpace is always excited to start the season at Daytona,” said William Mann, vice president of ModSpace Motorsports. “The history and energy that comes with this historic track always creates an exciting race! We are looking forward to seeing Mikey get behind the wheel the No. 1 ModSpace Ford and deliver a top-notch finish.”

    “The entire team had a successful test at Daytona and they came back with a lot of notes to make the car even better,” Kile added. “This is an exciting time for everyone involved with this ModSpace race team. We’re all eager to get it started at Daytona. We will also be testing a new car at Talladega Superspeedway at the end of this month.”

  • Ryan Reed and Venturini Motorsports Lead Day 1 of ARCA Testing at Daytona

    Ryan Reed and Venturini Motorsports Lead Day 1 of ARCA Testing at Daytona

    Testing has officially begun for the 2011 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards season as they began their three-day test at Daytona International Speedway on December 16th. As prior to years before, ARCA has hosted a three day test to allow teams to prepare for the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 next February.

    Also as usual, Venturini Motorsports was strong with Ryan Reed topping the charts with a best lap of 48.857 seconds in the after session. Reed was followed by his four teammtes Brennan Poole, John Stancill and Mark Thompson.

    Reed announced just last week that he had partnered up with Venturini Motorsports for a part-time schedule in 2012. The 18-year-old from Bakersfield, California raced a variety of cars last year, including the Pro Allstars Series, NASCAR Whelen All American and NASCAR K&N Pro Series East.

    Venturini Motorsports is known for being strong in Daytona qualifying as they won the pole last year and a total of seven Menards Pole Awards over the course of 2011.

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Rookie of the Year Joey Coulter rounded out the top five, followed by Chris Windom, Nelson Canache, Sloan Henderson, Damon Lusk and T.J. Duke. Seven-time Daytona winner Bobby Gerhart in 12th.

    In the morning sesson, it was Venturini driver Brennan Poole topping the charts with a lap of 48.915 seconds, over teammates Stancill and Thompson. Poole made his first start for the Venturini’s last year and scored his first win at Salem in May.

    T.J. Duke, driving for Coulter Motorsports, was fourth with Reed fifth. Rick Clifton, Coulter, Chad Hackenbracht, McReynolds, and Gerhart filled out the top 10.

    Testing will continue tomorrow with two sessions, from 9am-noon and 1-5pm. ARCARacing.com will feature lie timing and scoring on their site.

     

    DAYTONA INT’L SPEEDWAY TEST – FRIDAY AM – 12/16/11  
               
      CAR # DRIVER MFG TIME SPEED
    1 25 Brennan Poole Chevy 48.915 183.993
    2 55 John Stancill Toyota 48.921 183.970
    3 66 Mark Thompson Toyota 48.931 183.932
    4 61 TJ Duke Chevy 49.193 182.953
    5 15 Ryan Reed Toyota 49.328 182.452
    6 11b Rick Clifton Chevy 49.340 182.408
    7 61 Joey Coulter Chevy 49.424 182.098
    8 58 Chad Hackenbracht Chevy 49.552 181.627
    9 4 Brandon McReynolds Chevy 49.553 181.624
    10 5a Bobby Gerhart Chevy 49.663 181.221
    11 94 Steve Blackburn Dodge 49.790 180.759
    12 1 Alli Owens Ford 49.813 180.676
    13 16 Matt Lofton Chevy 49.820 180.650
    14 12 Jared Marks Dodge 49.879 180.437
    15 99 Buster Graham Ford 49.939 180.220
    16 5b Damon Lusk Chevy 50.029 179.896
    17 82 Sean Corr Ford 50.094 179.662
    18 63 Milka Duno Toyota 50.161 179.422
    19 32 Chris Windom Toyota 50.205 179.265
    20 10b Ryan Glenski Chevy 50.223 179.201
    21 90a Grant Enfinger Ford 50.258 179.076
    22 69 Chris Brown Ford 50.281 178.994
    23 17 Chris Buescher Ford 50.296 178.941
    24 6 Cale Gale Chevy 50.306 178.905
    25 90 Zachary Ralston Ford 50.350 178.749
    26 68 Will Kimmel Ford 50.382 178.635
    27 75a Benny Chastain Chevy 50.461 178.356
    28 14 John Ferrier Ford 50.563 177.996
    29 18 Michael Affarano Chevy 50.592 177.894
    30 35 Nelson Canache Chevy 50.648 177.697
    31 11a Ed Pompa Chevy 50.650 177.690
    32 11 Paul Harraka Chevy 50.798 177.172
    33 08 Ross Chastain Ford 50.840 177.026
    34 13 George Cushman Ford 50.928 176.720
    35 51 Drew Charlson Chevy 50.956 176.623
    36 04c Danny Esposito Dodge 51.089 176.163
    37 04b Nick Tucker Dodge 51.405 175.080
    38 40b Roger Carter Dodge 51.827 173.655
    39 40 Michael Bockler Dodge 51.990 173.110
    40 05a Derrike Cope Chevy 53.027 169.725

     

    DAYTONA INT’L SPEEDWAY TEST – FRIDAY PM – 12/16/11  
               
      CAR # DRIVER MFG TIME SPEED
    1 15 Ryan Reed Toyota 48.857 184.211
    2 25 Brennan Poole Chevy 48.862 184.192
    3 55 John Stancill Toyota 48.943 183.887
    4 66 Mark Thompson Toyota 49.347 182.382
    5 61 Joey Coulter Chevy 49.350 182.371
    6 32 Chris Windom Toyota 49.360 182.334
    7 35 Nelson Canache Chevy 49.439 182.043
    8 29b Sloan Henderson Dodge 49.461 181.962
    9 5b Damon Lusk Chevy 49.469 181.932
    10 61a TJ Duke Chevy 49.471 181.925
    11 82a Sean Corr Ford 49.475 181.910
    12 5a Bobby Gerhart Chevy 49.502 181.811
    13 99 Buster Graham Ford 49.637 181.316
    14 4 Brandon McReynolds Chevy 49.648 181.276
    15 14 John Ferrier Ford 49.666 181.210
    16 94 Steve Blackburn Dodge 49.717 181.025
    17 16 Matt Lofton Chevy 49.725 180.995
    18 00 Ed Kennedy Chevy 49.761 180.865
    19 12 Jared Marks Dodge 49.772 180.825
    20 63 Milka Duno Toyota 49.787 180.770
    21 58 Chad Hackenbracht Chevy 49.845 180.560
    22 69a Fain Skinner Ford 49.862 180.498
    23 1 Alli Owens Ford 49.905 180.343
    24 68 Will Kimmel Ford 50.016 179.942
    25 6 Cale Gale Chevy 50.034 179.878
    26 17a Chris Buescher Ford 50.035 179.874
    27 90 Zachary Ralston Ford 50.114 179.591
    28 08 Ross Chastain Ford 50.131 179.530
    29 69 Chris Brown Ford 50.133 179.522
    30 00a Ed Kennedy Chevy 50.176 179.369
    31 18 Michael Affarano Chevy 50.207 179.258
    32 5 Bobby Gerhart Chevy 50.262 179.062
    33 75 Ginny Quinones Chevy 50.278 179.005
    34 11 Paul Harraka Chevy 50.403 178.561
    35 82 Sean Corr Ford 50.483 178.278
    36 11a Ed Pompa Chevy 50.579 177.939
    37 11b Rick Clifton Chevy 50.581 177.932
    38 11c Trevor Edwards Chevy 50.681 177.581
    39 04 Scott Edwards Dodge 50.695 177.532
    40 17 Chris Buescher Ford 50.708 177.487
    41 51 Drew Charlson Chevy 50.744 177.361
    42 75a Benny Chastain Chevy 50.787 177.211
    43 05 Spencer Gallagher Chevy 50.903 176.807
    44 13 George Cushman Dodge 50.976 176.554
    45 04a Juan Carlos Blum Dodge 51.029 176.370
    46 11d Bill Coffey Ford 51.162 175.912
    47 06 Ricky Byers Chevy 51.173 175.874
    48 10b Daryl Eustice Ford 51.277 175.517
    49 10 Ryan Glennski Ford 51.417 175.039
    50 40d Larry Barford Dodge 51.511 174.720
    51 04d Josh Watkins Dodge 51.674 174.169
    52 05a Derrike Cope Chevy 52.067 172.854
    53 7 Brent Cross Chevy 52.376 171.834
  • ARCA: Ryan Reed Joins Venturini Motorsports for 2012 Partial Schedule

    ARCA: Ryan Reed Joins Venturini Motorsports for 2012 Partial Schedule

    Venturini Motorsports has begun putting their 2012 schedule together, beginning with Ryan Reed joining the team. Reed will run selected races next year for Venturini, with his ARCA Racing Series debut coming at Daytona International Speedway on February 18th.

    Reed grew up in Bakersfield, California, moving to North Carolina by himself at the age of 17 to pursue his dream of racing.

    The 18-year-old has already had his battles as in February of 2011, he was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.  This changed almost everything for Reed with regards to daily routine: diet, exercise, blood glucose readings, on track data, and reporting all of this information weekly to his medical / nutritional team in California.

    Reed speaks about his experience through his initiative called “Ryan’s Mission”, which sets to build awareness and support for people with diabetes around the world.

    Reed got started in racing at the age of four and has had success every step of the way. In 2009, Reed won the Legends Division Track Championship at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. The following season, he became the Super Late Model Division Rookie of the Year while becoming the youngest winner in the division when he scored one win.

    In 2011, Reed raced a variety of cars, including the Pro Allstars Series, NASCAR Whelen All American and NASCAR K&N Pro Series East.

     

    For more information on Ryan Reed visit www.RyanReedRacing.com

    For more information on Venturini Motorsports visit www.VenturiniMotorsports.com

  • ARCA Winchester News and Notes: Venturini Motorsports, Tom Hessert and More

    

    While the race was won by Dakoda Armstrong, a bunch of other drivers came home with solid finishes to be proud of.

    This year, Venturini Motorsports has made it a habit of finishing in the top 10 with a variety of drivers. The latest driver to add his name to the list is Ryan Blaney.

    Blaney drove the team’s No.25 Lauren Briant/Venturini Motorsports Chevrolet to a sixth place finish after suffering a flat right front tire on lap 162 in his ARCA debut.

    “We were trying to take it easy in the race, just trying to save our stuff,” Blaney said, after leading 154 of the first 161 laps. “I think if we could have had 10 more laps after we blew a tire, we could have passed Ty for the lead and then we would have been one lap down and got that caution and been in business. It just wasn’t meant to be.

    “I ran the same line I did 50 laps in a row. I was just taking it so easy, especially to help that right front and to keep it from doing what it did. I don’t know if our camber was off or what. But it was a great night. I’ve got to thank Venturini for letting me run this car and making it as good as it was. We’ll get ‘em next time.”

    The son of NASCAR veteran Dave Blaney is hoping that he can make some more starts this season.

    “It’s great to race in the ARCA (Racing) Series,” Blaney said. “There are really good guys racing, especially here, a place like Winchester.”

    Venturini Motorsports also debuted John Blankenship, who finished 10th in the No. 55 Chevrolet, meaning that so far this year Venturini has 11 top 10s with nine different drivers.

    Meanwhile, finishing fifth in front of Blaney was Tom Hessert, who was proud to impress numerous guests from Federated Auto Parts, who were on hand as the race’s sponsor.

    “The guys in the pits did a really good job of getting us back out,” he said. “We didn’t have the best car; we had a couple issues that were keeping us from being better, but it was a good top-five for the Federated car at a Federated race. It’s good to have a good showing for them. It’s too bad we couldn’t get a win, but in a couple weeks we’ll go to Berlin and we always run really well there.”

    For points leader Ty Dillon, it was also a solid day for him as he still finished fouth to pad his points lead despite bottoming out lap in the race.

    “It’s unfortunate,” Dillon said. “It doesn’t happen to us often, but it’s still a good points day. We qualified well and led a couple of laps. I’m happy. I just like winning, so it’s a little disappointing to lead laps there at the end of the race and fall off so bad. We saved our stuff all day and rode and were hoping for what happened to happen, for guys to wear their stuff out and us be patient as usual to let the race come to us, but something happened there and we just got too loose.”

    The next race for ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards is July 9th at Berlin Raceway.

  • Chad Hackenbracht’s Biggest Hurdle Not the Racing But His Own Last Name

    Chad Hackenbracht’s Biggest Hurdle Not the Racing But His Own Last Name

    Chad Hackenbracht had his best ever career finish in this past weekend’s ARCA race, scoring a fourth place in his family-owned No. 58 Tastee Apple CGH Motorsports Chevrolet at Michigan International Speedway.

    [media-credit name=”Photo Credit: CGH Motorsports” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]But even greater than the challenge of the intense competition on the track is the 19 year old driver’s challenge in just getting folks to pronounce his last name correctly.

    In addition to being on a quest for name recognition, the driver is having a little fun with it all. His team has just developed T-shirts, which say “What’s a Chad Hacken-something?”

    The correct pronunciation of that all important last name is in parentheses (hock en bra) on the new T-shirts, which are on sale on Hackenbracht’s website  www.cghmotorsports.com for just $19.95.

    “That actually was started by my marketing guy who is looking for sponsorship for us,” Hackenbracht said of the T-shirt venture. “It has turned into a really big hit.”

    Hackenbracht, however, is focused solely on his racing and was thrilled with his good performance at Michigan.

    “We wound up getting a fourth place out of it which wasn’t too bad,” Hackenbracht said. “We were up there in contention.”

    “It’s a career best for us,” Hackenbracht said. “It was really good.”

    The young driver from New Philadelphia, Ohio has been on a tear even before the career best finish in Michigan.  He scored an 11th place finish at Toledo in May, a ninth-place finish at New Jersey and seventh place finish at Pocono Raceway.

    This is Hackenbracht’s first full year in the ARCA Series, after running a limited schedule in 2010, with just the televised races on the docket. Prior to that, the young driver ran the Legends series, scoring 18 wins and the national championship.

    Hackenbracht is a bit unusual as far as his driving pedigree. He is not from a traditional racing family, but instead caught the racing bug by seeing it on television.

    “I basically was watching the Daytona or Talladega Cup race and I saw it and said to my parents, ‘Hey, I want to race.’ Hackenbracht said. “I don’t think they took me seriously but they said to come up with different options.”

    “I came up with four-wheelers and go karts and my mom said no to both of them,” Hackenbracht continued. “So, then we saw quarter-midgets and started with that.”

    The young driver has been moving on up the ranks ever since, with his eye eventually on a Truck or Nationwide ride. Like so many others, Hackenbracht definitely sees himself in the Cup Series sometime in the near future, with just the economy standing in his way.

    “I’m in the perfect age range,” Hackenbracht said. “But just the wrong economic time.”

    “In a couple years, you’ll have a lot of rides opening up,” Hackenbracht continued. “But you’ve got to survive until then.”

    Hackenbracht survives with a little help from his friends, particularly those in the Cup garage, as well as good friend and mentor Ron Hornaday, Jr.

    “ARCA is kind of like a big family,” Hackenbracht said. “All the teams work with you.”

    “I’ve got a connection with Ron Hornaday in the Truck garage,” Hackenbracht continued. “He’ll stop in the shop after a race and we’ll talk a little bit.”

    Hackenbracht does follow one particular Cup driver, one in fact that he has inherited from his mother.

    “My mom’s driver is Jeff Gordon,” Hackenbracht said. “I follow him just because of my mom and dad.”

    “But I really like Mark Martin myself,” Hackenbracht continued. “He races hard but he races clean. That’s what I do and what I want to be.”

    In addition to the racers that Hackenbracht follows on the track, he also models himself after the premiere drivers in the sport as far as putting time in at the shop and at the gym. But he does have one other duty that has led to yet another name for the young driver.

    “The guys at the shop call me ‘Sticker Boy’ because I put all the details on the car,” Hackenbracht said. “That’s kind of my thing.”

    Whether you call him ‘Hacken-something’ or ‘Sticker Boy’, Hackenbracht will next be doing his thing in the ARCA Racing Series on Saturday, June 25th in the Winchester ARCA 200 presented by Federated Auto Parts at Winchester Speedway in Indiana.

    “We came to Michigan and showed our performance was no fluke,” Hackenbracht said. “I’m anxious to get to Winchester as I feel we have a shot at our first career win.”