Actors Mark Ruffalo and Blake Rayne Join
Townley, Boston, Coughlin & Munter for Star-Studded Event
Chicago, Illinois (July 15, 2014) – Every November Chicago sports fans become familiar with the term “Circus Trip” as the Chicago Bulls and Blackhawks vacate their shared United Center home venue hitting the road to make way for the annual two-week Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus stay. But in July the term “Circus Trip” is reserved to best describe the fanfare surrounding Venturini Motorsport’s (VMS) homecoming for the annual ARCA race at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois.
This year is no different. Stacked with a stout four driver line-up led by John Wes Townley, Justin Boston, Cody Coughlin and Eco Athlete Leilani Munter, Venturini Motorsports returns home with celebrity flare and support from Hollywood actor, producer, director, and screenwriter Mark Ruffalo and silver screen newcomer, actor, and musical artist, Blake Rayne.
Both Ruffalo and Rayne will play significant roles with Venturini Motorsports on and off the track this weekend in Chicago.
Ruffalo is an Academy Award-nominated actor whose credits include “You Can Count on Me,” “The Kids Are All Right,” “Avengers,” Zodiac,” “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” and “In the Cut.” He can currently be seen in John Carney’s “Begin Again” opposite Keira Knightley as well as the Emmy-nominated HBO film “The Normal Heart.”
Ruffalo, also a co-founder of The Solutions Project, an organization dedicated to using the powerful combination of science, business and culture to accelerate the transition to 100% clean, renewable energy, will use his organization to support Leilani Münter, who will be driving VMS’s No.66 PrairieGold Solar Toyota in Saturday’sARCA Racing Series presented by Menards Ansell ActivArmr 150 ARCA event.
In addition to his team sponsorship role, Ruffalo will lend a hand to Chicagoland Speedway serving as Grand Marshal for the NASCAR Nationwide EnjoyIllinois.com 300 nightcap, which follows the ARCA event.
Also supporting VMS this weekend is Actor/Artist, Blake Rayne, who will be on-hand promoting the movie, THE IDENTICAL (www.TheIdenticalMovie.com), which is set to be released nationwide on September 5th. City of Peace Films, which produced The Identical, has entered into a strategic marketing partnership with Venturini Motorsports and will display the movie artwork on both John Wes Townley’s ARCA and Nationwide cars as he’ll be running back-to-back races Saturday night at Chicago.
Rayne, in his acting debut, has years of concert stage experience and recently completed recording work on the original motion picture soundtrack, which releases in stores September 2nd. In the film, he plays the dual role of Drexel Hemsley and Ryan Wade alongside popular actors Seth Green, Ashley Judd and Ray Liotta.
Like Ruffalo, Rayne will also be called on for double duty as he’ll perform the national anthem prior to the NASCAR Nationwide green flag on Saturday, July 19.
Prior to his national anthem performance, Blake Rayne will be joined by two additional City of Peace bands – Darcey & Mo and The Morph Kings. These three bands comprise most of the music featured in the upcoming motion picture THE IDENTICAL. The three bands will perform a concert on the main stage of Chicagoland Speedway’s Champions Park as part of the ARCA Racing Summer Concert Series on July 19 at 4 p.m. CT.
As for the team, Venturini Motorsports will be making its 14th appearance at Chicagoland Speedway, competing in every ARCA event at the track since it opened in 2001.
Already with two wins (Scott Lagasse Jr. 08’ & Kevin Swindell 12’) at Chicago, Venturini Motorsports looks to one of their current drivers to bring them back to glory in front of their hometown fans.
The Ansell Activ Armr 150 will be broadcasted live on Fox Sports 2 on Saturday, July 19 at 5 p.m. CT. ARCAracing.com will provide live timing and scoring of practice on Friday, July 18 from 3:30-5:20 p.m. CT. Menard’s Pole Qualifying will take place on Saturday, July 19 at 1:30 p.m. CT.
Chicagoland Speedway is hosting an autograph session in Champions Park on Friday, July 18 from 6-7 p.m. CT.
ABOUT THE IDENTICAL
THE IDENTICAL tells the compelling story of twin brothers unknowingly separated at birth during the Great Depression. DREXEL HEMSLEY becomes an iconic 50’s rock ‘n’ roll star, while RYAN WADE (Blake Rayne) struggles to balance his love for music and pleasing his father. The Reverend Wade (Ray Liotta) and his wife (Ashley Judd) are sure their adopted son has been gifted and called by God to be a preacher. But Ryan challenges his parent’s vision for his life, and unflinchingly chooses to launch his own music career with his best friend (Seth Green). Encouraged by his wife (Erin Cottrell) and employer (Joe Pantoliano), Ryan embarks on an unpredictable, provocative path – performing the legendary music of Drexel Hemsley in sold out venues all across the country. As the brothers destinies tragically collide, Ryan discovers that Drexel is his identical twin which leads him to question everything he’s ever believed about God, family and his own identity.
THE IDENTICAL is a City of Peace Films production featuring the talents of three generations of the Marcellino family from Nashville, TN. Dustin Marcellino is the first time director, Jerry Marcellino co-wrote the 20 plus original songs with his son Yochanan, who is the founder of City of Peace Films. Yochanan and Don Noes are the two men who propelled the movie to the big screen by raising the production funding and the film’s marketing budget. The movie will be distributed by Freestyle Releasing and will be opening nationwide on September 5th.
STARRING: Erin Cottrell, Amanda Crew, Brian Geraghty, Seth Green, Ashley Judd, Joe Pantoliano, Blake Rayne, and Ray Liotta
DIRECTED BY: Dustin Marcellino
PRODUCED BY: Mark G. Mathis, Yochanan Marcellino, Matthew Dean Russell
Featuring over 20 original songs by Jerry Marcellino and Yochanan Marcellino including: “Your Love’s Keepin’ Me Tonight,” “City Lights,” “Angel of Mine,” “Everybody Knows It” and “Nashville Tonight”
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
About ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards
The Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is among the leading auto racing sanctioning bodies in the country. Founded in 1953 by John and Mildred Marcum, the organization administers more than 100 events each year in multiple racing series, including the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards, the ARCA/CRA Super Series, the ARCA Truck Series and the ARCA Midwest Tour, plus weekly racing at Toledo and Flat Rock Speedways.
