NASCAR Team Shuts Down Operations as 40 Years of Legacy Bites the Dust

Back in the 50s, Tony Venturini began racing stock cars, competing against some of the very best at the historic Soldiers Field. ‘Tiger’ Tom Pistone and Freddy Lorenzen definitely come to mind. However, a toddler in Bill and his core childhood memory was in the pits, watching his father Tony race at Rockford Speedway in the late 70’s. Parts chaser, tire changer, mechanic, spotter, and only then, a driver, Bill ran the whole nine yards and rose from the ground up. Even when he vacated his driver’s seat in 2007, Bill would eventually fall back on the vast knowledge of the only thing he ever knew, the sport of racing.

Enter Joey Logano. And thanks to JD Gibbs, in the spring of 2008, Bill got the opportunity of a lifetime.

Joe Gibbs Racing was fielding a Venturini Motorsports car in the ARCA Series at the time. Bill was asked to put all his racing experience to the test for a top prospect in Logano. Fate had it that the duo made history at the Rockingham Speedway, which was Logano’s first-ever ARCA victory. In fact, Bill, who went on to build the longest-tenured and most successful team in ARCA history, transitioned the Venturini Motorsports team into a driver development powerhouse that it is today. Unfortunately, come Friday, Venturini Motorsports announced that it is set to draw the shutter on its operations from October 2025 onwards, with its sale guaranteed to a $9.5 billion giant. Like they say, life comes full circle; the announcement too was made at the same Rockingham Speedway that saw the start of a legacy that lasted nearly four decades:

“I want to thank my wife, my parents, my team, Jack Irving, Tyler Gibbs, and Ron Drager. Each of them is what has made this journey so very special,” said Bill Venturini Sr’s son, Billy. Considering they launched the NASCAR careers of 26 young drivers, including the likes of Logano, William Byron, Alex Bowman, Christopher Bell, Erik Jones, Chandler Smith, Corey Heim, and Christian Eckes, to name a few, Bill recounted, “The last 20 years [as owner and General Manager] have been very rewarding, but also incredibly demanding.

“I love what this sport has given to me, but in return I gave it everything I had. So the time has come to be able to prioritize other things ahead of racing. As a racer, nothing comes before the sport. I understood, I believed, and lived by it. But it’s now time to prepare for my departure.

“I knew that the person who was to take this team over when the time came needed to be someone who carried that same passion and intensity that I did. Nick is that guy. Nick seems like the perfect fit to continue this program for the team and for Toyota with the same devotion to drivers development as I have.”

Nitro Motorsports will take over Venturini Motorsports confirmed that their operation will be shutting down. Billy Venturini, who’s been at the helm for the last two decades, will stay on as general manager through 2026 to ease the transition. That legacy was built in partnership with Toyota GAZOO Racing, which will see an unhindered continuation even under new ownership. Nitro Motorsports, who is going to be led by Nick Tucker, too had some special words for the Venturini family. “Billy and I are cut from the same cloth.

“We were born into this sport. Now we carry the torch forward.” Nitro runs across multiple racing series, including go-karts, Trans Am, the Toyota GR Cup, and ARCA. With this acquisition, they now have one of the most complete driver development pipelines in motorsports. Toyota’s Jack Irving called the partnership with VMS “incredible” and praised the team’s passion and professionalism.

“Billy’s commitment to driver development truly embodies what we value at TRD,” he said. The farewell is bittersweet, but the reality behind it is hard to ignore. The cost of racing is breaking even the best. Venturini’s exit comes at a time when NASCAR’s economic health is under the microscope. Running a team has never been more expensive. Sponsorship is harder to come by. The sport’s middle tier is quietly vanishing.

Earlier this month, Mike Harmon Racing (MHR) pulled out of the SciAps 300 at Bristol without warning. Fans feared the worst—a shutdown. Social media went wild after a cryptic post by the team. Was it another closure in NASCAR? However, MHR later confirmed they weren’t closing, just regrouping. “Any rumors suggesting MHR is closing are false,” the team said. They plan to return for the next race at Rockingham. But even with the denial, doubts linger. In today’s NASCAR, even surviving feels like a win.

RWR faces a lawsuit amid financial struggles!

While developmental teams like Venturini Motorsports are choosing to exit on their own terms, others in the NASCAR Cup Series are finding themselves trapped in legal and financial quicksand. Rick Ware Racing (RWR), a longtime underdog team, now faces a lawsuit from Legacy Motor Club over a failed charter sale that could have brought in crucial financial relief.

Court documents reveal that RWR admitted it was “strapped for cash” and said it couldn’t compete at a Cup Series level without additional funding. That led them to initiate talks with Jimmie Johnson‘s Legacy in early 2025. Both sides reached what they believed was a firm agreement on March 3 to sell one charter for a reported $40 million. The deal was supposed to be RWR’s lifeline.

But shortly after signing, RWR apparently changed its position. The team stated that the agreement covered a 2027 transaction, not 2026, and they refused to close the deal. Legacy saw no other option and took the matter to court. They filed a lawsuit and secured a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO), which blocks RWR from selling or leasing the charter to anyone else until the court resolves the dispute.

RWR responded strongly, calling the lawsuit “a misguided attempt to tarnish our reputation.” The team stated it had negotiated in good faith and that the claims distorted the actual facts. However, until a verdict is reached, RWR’s hands are tied. They can’t make use of the charter, nor can they generate any revenue from it. This legal limbo could prove disastrous. The sale was reportedly a key financial strategy to keep RWR’s other operations alive.

Without that cash influx, the team now fears a shutdown if the lawsuit drags on and no one resolves it quickly—it could mark the beginning of the end for RWR as a full-time Cup team. With one charter already leased to RFK Racing for Ryan Preece’s No. 60 car, and the other used for Cody Ware’s No. 51 entry, RWR doesn’t have much wiggle room. And in a sport where funding equals performance, time is running short.