Wendy Venturini (born January 30, 1979 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American reporter for the Performance Racing Network (PRN). She works as broadcaster for

NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...

races and sometimes as a

pit reporter In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...

for races on PRN. She had been a pit reporter in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, and reporter for NASCAR Race Day. Venturini is a 2000 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 2007, Venturini was one of the commentators for DirecTV's

NASCAR Hot Pass NASCAR Hot Pass was a sports television package available exclusively on DirecTV in the United States, in Canada on several providers and in South America and the Caribbean on DirecTV Latin America. It debuted at the 2007 Daytona 500, which aire ...

coverage, making her the first female play-by-play announcer in auto racing history. On August 29, 2014, Venturini was announced as the anchor for the

2014 Sylvania 300 The 2014 Sylvania 300 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was held on September 21, 2014, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire. Contested over 303 laps, it was the 28th race of the 36 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Seri ...

NASRCAR Sprint Cup Series race for Performance Racing Network, becoming the first woman to serve such a position. She is the daughter of two-time Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) Champion and multi-car owner

Bill Venturini William Venturini (born February 14, 1953), nicknamed "Big Bill", is a retired American professional stock car racing driver. He is the founder and co-owner of Venturini Motorsports, a team that competes in the ARCA Menards Series. As a driver, he ...

. Her older brother,

Billy Venturini William "Billy" Venturini (born April 7, 1976) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He currently co-owns Venturini Motorsports, a racing team that competes in the ARCA Menards Series, along with his father, Bill. As ...

, is also an owner on the ARCA circuit.

Personal life

She is married to Jarrad Egert who serves as the director of engine track support for Joe Gibbs Racing's NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series teams. They had their first child, Caleb James, on December 22, 2010. On June 23, 2018, Venturini was struck by a vehicle while exercising near Sonoma Raceway in Northern California. She was transported to Marin General Hospital in Marin, California, where she was admitted to the intensive care unit. Doctors later diagnosed her with a skull fracture. Venturini returned to broadcasting in August of that same year.

References

External links

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Speed Channel bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Venturini, Wendy Living people 1979 births NASCAR people Motorsport announcers University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni American radio sports announcers American television sports announcers Women sports announcers