American Racing News Vol 1, Issue 2 Issue 7 | Page 37

Venturini Motorsports adds win no. 42 with Hessert victory at DuQuoin
TOLEDO, Ohio (Sept. 6, 2016) Venturini Motorsports added its
42nd career ARCA Racing Series
presented by Menards victory Sunday night at the DuQuoin State
Fairgrounds dirt mile when Tom
Hessert "parked it" in victory lane.
The win in the General Tire
GRABBER 100 also ended a twoyear winless drought for Hessert,
whose last victory came at Salem
Speedway on September 13, 2014.
It also marked the first win for the
combination of Hessert and his
crew chief Dave Leiner.
"So proud of this team," said Hessert. "Dave (Leiner) and the guys
have done a heck of a job the last
few races. I feel we had one taken
away from us at Berlin, and we
didn't roll over. We just keep
pressing on. I'm gonna enjoy this
one for a few days and then get
ready to focus on Salem."
Hessert's good at focusing on Salem having already won three
times on the storied high-banked,
half-mile in southern Indiana,
twice with Cunningham Motorsports and once with Ken Schrader
Racing.

Hessert's win Sunday was Venturini's second victory at DuQuoin,
having won there with Steve Aprin
in 2010.
The weekend win places Hessert
second in championship standings,
505 point behind leader Chase
Briscoe with four events remaining
- Salem, Chicagoland, Kentucky
and Kansas.
Hessert's Venturini Motorsports
teammates Ken Schrader and Trista Stevenson finished third and
10th respectively, giving the team
three finishes inside the top-10.
"We had a lot of fun out there tonight," said Schrader. "Our Federated Auto Parts Toyota was
hooked up all night long but just
couldn't catch Hessert there at the
end."
Schrader's car owner Billy Venturini added, "Everyone needs to know
working with Ken Schrader is as
much fun as I've had in a long
time. What a cool cat. Was a pleasure and an honor."
Twenty-five year old Trista Stevenson turned in a solid top-10
performance in her ARCA Racing

Series debut. "What a great night,"
said Stevenson. "I had a lot of fun
out there and was able to bring my
Lighthouse Lodge-Excel Bottling
Company Toyota home in 10th
place. It was definitely a learning
experience. The longer we practiced the better we got. The same
went for the race...the longer it
went the better things went. I'm
really happy with our day and
thankful for the opportunity.
"We got hot during that first run
and had to cool down the car on
that first pit stop; but once we got
back out and settled in, our times
picked up and we were running
close to the leaders."
Surrounded by a huge contingency
of supporters on pit road, Stevenson took a moment after the race to
give credit to her crew chief, Jeff
McClure, and spotter, Landon
Huffman, for their contributions.
"I had great team support all day
long. Jeff and Landon were awesome and really helped me make
the adjustment and get up to speed
today. They pushed me when I
needed it and made this day a lot of
fun. I'm ready for another 100
laps," added Stevenson.