Wendy Venturini (born January 30, 1979 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American reporter for the

Performance Racing Network The Performance Racing Network (PRN) is a radio syndication network controlled by Speedway Motorsports (SMI) founded in 1981. PRN airs NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series events held at Speedway Motorsports and Penske Corporation-owned and man ...

(PRN). She works as broadcaster for

NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, 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. ...

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 The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck based stock cars. The series is one of ...

, and reporter for NASCAR Race Day. Venturini is a 2000 graduate of the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which r ...

. In 2007, Venturini was one of the commentators for

DirecTV DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American Multichannel television in the United States, multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California, El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary ...

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 aired ...

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

, becoming the first woman to serve such a position. She is the daughter of two-time

Automobile Racing Club of America The Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is an auto racing sanctioning body in the United States, founded in 1953 by John Marcum. The current president of ARCA is Ron Drager, who took over the position in 1996 following the death of Bob Lo ...

(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, h ...

. 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 Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) is an American professional stock car racing organization owned and operated by former Washington Redskins (today the Washington Commanders) coach Joe Gibbs, which first started racing on the NASCAR circuit in 1991. His ...

'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 Sonoma Raceway (originally known as Sears Point Raceway from 1967 to 1980 and 1982 to 2002, Golden State International Raceway in 1981 and Infineon Raceway from 2002 to 2012) is a road course and dragstrip located at Sears Point in the souther ...

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