Concord, NC (January 27, 2014) – Venturini Motorsports (VMS) and long-time marketing partner Zaxby’s have agreed on a full season sponsorship deal featuring John Wes Townley. Townley will be piloting VMS’s No.15 Zaxby’s Toyota Camry during the upcoming 20-event ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards schedule.
“What an incredible opportunity to come back with Venturini in such a big way after all the success we’ve had together. They have a dominant team and I’m expecting nothing less this coming season,” said Townley.
VMS will pair Townley with newly acquired crew chief Rich Lushes for their championship bid. With a decorated history Lushes joins VMS after spending the last two seasons with ThorSport Racing as car chief for Frank Kimmel and the reigning ARCA champions.
“This is a fantastic opportunity. I’m excited to be working with Venturini Motorsports and appreciate the confidence Billy (Venturini) has in me to lead the 15 team. This will be my first chance to crew chief in the ARCA series. I’m looking forward to building my team and getting on track with John Wes at Daytona,” said Rich Lushes.
VMS’s competition director, Billy Venturini, shared similar thoughts by adding, “I’m super excited for John Wes to be driving for us again this year. He’s come into his own the last year or so. At this point in his career I feel he’s got a chance to win every race he starts. The combination of Lushes (Rich) and Townley should prove to be solid combination for the upcoming season.”
Townley, a native of Watkinsville, GA, has raced part-time under the VMS banner since 2010 competing in both ARCA and NASCAR Nationwide events during that time. In 2013, Townley made headlines by winning the ARCA season opener at Daytona International Speedway and finished 11th overall in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) driver standings competing with Red Horse Racing.
“I started my career in ARCA and moved up the ranks quickly because of the direction and exposure my sponsor (Zaxby’s) was looking for at the time. As a driver it was a great opportunity and provided me with tremendous racing experience. Driving full-time again in the series is definitely a breath of fresh air. It gives me an opportunity to be more free-spirited and focus my efforts on consistency and winning a championship,” added Townley.
This is Townley’s second major offseason announcement to be released in recent weeks. In December, Townley publicized his move from Red Horse Racing to join Wauters Motorsports and the No.5 Zaxby’s Toyota Tundra team for a full season campaign in the NCWTS series.
Townley will kick-off the ’14 season at Daytona as defending race champion during ARCA’s 62nd season opener Lucas Oil 200 presented by MAVTV American Real which airs live on FOX SPORTS 1 Saturday, February 15th at 4:15 p.m. EST.
About Zaxby’s
An alternative to fast food, Zaxby’s offers its guests prepared-at-order Chicken Fingerz, Traditional or Boneless Wings, sandwiches, Zalads and Zappetizers, along with a variety of nine sauces ranging from Wimpy and Tongue Torch to Nuclear and Insane. Childhood friends Zach McLeroy and Tony Townley hatched the Athens, Ga.-based chain in 1990 to provide a fun, relaxing atmosphere that would keep guests coming back for more. The company ranked number seven in the 2012 Top 10 Excellent Large Fast-Food Chains With 500 Or More U.S. Units Quick-Track study published by Sandelman & Associates. The chain also ranked number five in the nation for total sales and number one in the chicken segment in the 2012 Top 150 Fast-Casual Chain Restaurant Report published by Technomic. In honor of the thousands of children the restaurant chain serves every year, Zaxby’s is a proud supporter of Make-A-Wish. The company operates more than 595 locations in 13 states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. For more information, please visit zaxbys.com, facebook.com/zaxbys or follow on Twitter @Zaxbys.
About Venturini Motorsports
Venturini Motorsports (VMS), fielding cars for over 30-years in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards, is one of the premier NASCAR driver development programs in the country. Multiple team championships and consistent on-track success, VMS has evolved into one of the most recognizable names in motorsports. Since 2007, VMS has assisted in the career development of notable NASCAR drivers such as Joey Logano, Justin Allgaier, Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, Brian Scott, Kevin Swindell, John Wes Townley and Erik Jones. Over the years the Venturini name has become synonymous with modern-day racing in America. In 2012, the Venturini family was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame (www.NIASHF.org) and now find themselves enshrined with such sports icons as Joe DiMaggio, Mario Andretti, Vince Lombardi, Tommy Lasorda and Rocky Marciano.
Official: www.VenturiniMotorsports.com | Twitter: @VenturiniMotor | Facebook: Venturini Motorsports
