The charity race, supporting Motor Racing Outreach (MRO) and Speedway Children’s Charities (SCC), will pit the women of NASCAR against each other in Bandolero cars provided by U.S. Legend Cars International on the speedway’s frontstretch quarter-mile oval.

Participants already entered in the Better Half Dash include Katie Kenseth, wife of 2003 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Matt Kenseth; Angie Skinner, wife of 1995 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Mike Skinner; and SPEED television personality Wendy Venturini. Additionally, Kelley Earnhardt, general manager and co-owner of Junior Motorsports, will wave the green flag for the event.

“Matt was pretty excited when he heard I was going to race,” said Katie Kenseth. “This is an exciting event for a great cause and an opportunity for the girls to ‘have at it.’ I think you’ll see most of us are just as competitive as the men. Hopefully the other ladies will have a lot of fun racing for second place.”

The Better Half Dash will start at approximately 2:30 p.m. EDT and will be 25 laps in length, with a competition caution set for Lap 15. There will be two chances at a green-white-checkered finish. Caution laps will not count. Starting order will be determined by random draw prior to the race.

While the better half is toiling away in the driver’s seat, the other half has the option to serve as crew chief or spotter for the race, but drivers and crew members are not permitted to make any engine, chassis or suspension modifications. They can, however, give advice.

“I have already started my research into how to drive,” said Angie Skinner. “My husband’s response was you let off the gas and turn when you feel you are too tight. But then I said, ‘How much do you let off and how long?’ He responded, ‘If you knew that you’d be a professional race car driver.’ Can I have a different ‘other half’ for this race please?’

The Better Half Dash purse will be paid to the driver’s charity of choice, with $5,000 going to the winner’s charity, $3,000 for the second place finisher and $2,000 for third. Fans will also have the opportunity to donate $10 to MRO and SCC through the completion of the Bank of America 500 by texting “MOTOR” to 20222.

“What a great and exciting opportunity to help support and raise money for MRO & SCC,” said Better Half Dash racer Trisha Mears, wife of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Casey Mears. “MRO has been such a huge part of our racing lives and SCC is a very rewarding charity that has helped no many children throughout the years. I’m looking forward to raising money and having fun in the racecar. And can someone ask Katie Kenseth if she can drive in reverse?”

“MRO is extremely thankful to partner with Speedway Children’s Charities on this event and thankful for the support of Charlotte Motor Speedway and the drivers who are participating,” said Billy Mauldin, president of MRO. “We’re so excited to be a part of this fun event, it’s time to give these ladies the chance to show the guys they know a thing or two about racing.”

Two Better Half Dash practice sessions are scheduled for Sept. 26 and 28 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Drivers currently entered are Ashley Allgaier, Jacquelyn Butler (David Ragan), Patricia Driscoll (Kurt Busch), Michelle Gilliland, Kenseth, Shannon Koch, Jami McDowell, Mears, Melanie Self (MRO), Skinner, Sabrina Simpson (Joey Logano), Venturini (SPEED) and Nan Zipadelli.

Updates on the race and entrants can be found at www.charlottemotorspeedway.com.

Fans can purchase two frontstretch tickets to the Bank of America 500, with the best views of the world’s largest HDTV, for just $99. Tickets for all October races at Charlotte Motor Speedway can be purchased online at www.charlottemotorspeedway.com or by calling the speedway ticket office at 1-800-455-FANS (3267).

For more information on the October races and other events, connect with Charlotte Motor Speedway on Twitter at www.twitter.com/CLTMotorSpdwy or become a Facebook fan at www.facebook.com/charlottemotorspeedway.

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SPEED™ reporter Wendy Venturini will seize the rare opportunity this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway to catch up with her family where they’re most at home … in a race car hauler.

Racing is the Venturini family business and Wendy’s older brother, Billy Venturini, will drive the No. 15 Venturini Motorsports entry in Friday’s ARCA Re/Max Series race at Talladega (5 p.m. on SPEED). Wendy Venturini, a reporter for NASCAR RaceDay, will pull double duty with her regular SPEED responsibilities and pit reporting for the ARCA race.

“I love covering the ARCA Series because it is a homecoming for me,” Venturini said. “It’s where I started as a kid watching my Dad race and it’s still the same people running the series today, so it’s great to catch up with everyone. I’m fortunate to have my entire family involved in this sport. We get to see each other a lot at the companion tracks and that makes it easier to deal with the grind of the schedule.”

Family, friends and nostalgia aren’t all that Venturini finds in the garage next door.

“When the Cup and ARCA Series are together, not only do I get to see my family while I’m at work, I get my mom’s home cooking,” Venturini said. “She’ll give me her ‘menu’ of what she’s cooking for the team for the weekend, so if I have time, I’ll sneak away from the Cup garage to get real food. My fiancé, Jarrad, also runs over to the ARCA garage for Mom’s homemade meals.”

But mothers are good for more than comfort food.

“If I’m having a bad day on TV, my mom always knows the right things to say to cheer me up,” Venturini stated. “So, it’s really great to have her at the track. That face-to-face contact is always better than over the phone.”

As a NASCAR journalist, Venturini is expected to be unbiased in her coverage of the sport. With the typical big brother/little sister relationship she shares with Billy, no one can call into question her journalistic ethics.

“Of course, I enjoy talking about my brother on camera, but I made a promise to myself when I started my career that I was not going to play any type of favoritism,” Venturini said. “In fact, my brother will tell you I’m actually brutally honest about his

driving if he’s not running well and I’m more critical of his off-track actions than anyone. But he’s one of my biggest critics – he is honest if he didn’t like something I said or did on NASCAR RaceDay, so we are good for each other.”

Some of Venturini’s best and worst childhood memories trace back to her family’s competition in the ARCA Series, a 14-year venture. Her father, Bill Venturini, Sr., competed in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, won two championships in the ARCA Series and holds the series qualifying record at Talladega.

“My best racing memory ever was when my father won his first championship,” Venturini said. “The second one was special, as well, but as a child, it’s always unbelievable when your father is a champ for the first time.

“But my worst experiences were when Dad broke his neck at Michigan in 1989 and my brother broke his neck at Daytona in 2005,” she continued. “My mother and I nursed Dad back to health. So, when my brother got hurt, we knew what to do and how to get him through the rehab.”

Not only does Venturini’s mother support the family in tragedy, she is willing to do anything necessary to make the family business stronger.

“My mother was a tire changer on my father’s ARCA team in the 1980s, which was the first all-female pit crew,” Venturini said. “He won a championship with that all-woman crew. So, my mom is more of the dirt-under-the-nails type and she’s been working at the track all her life. She can do just about anything the team needs.”

While the matriarch of the family opted to stay on the team side of the racing business, Venturini elected to make her mark in the journalistic world. She became the first female to call an entire race on a national level at Daytona International Speedway in June and has garnered acclaim for her weekly feature “The Real Deal with Wendy Venturini” on NASCAR RaceDay. Her stint on SPEED’s pre-race show began in 2005, following a position as a pit road reporter for the network in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2004-2005.

The Chicago native started out behind the camera and in the trenches, learning to do virtually everything necessary to put on a television show while at a local cable channel. From there, it was on to TNN to work in NASCAR and eventually to SPEED, where she worked as a producer for the same talent she now reports alongside. Venturini served as a producer for NASCAR Victory Lane and NASCAR This Morning, which later became NASCAR RaceDay.

“SPEED wanted a female pit-road reporter for the Truck Series and suggested I apply,” Venturini recalled. “I’d grown up at the track but had never really been a television person, although I knew a lot about racing.”

While her life’s ambition was not necessarily to be a reporter but to somehow work in the industry, Venturini is quick to credit her family’s racing roots with opening doors for her with SPEED.

“I’m blessed with the path my father paved for all of us in racing,” Venturini reflected. “If he hadn’t had his driving career when I was a child, I wouldn’t be doing this. We definitely are in this together as a family.”

Although she travels more than 38 weeks each season for NASCAR RaceDay, life on the road is all Venturini has ever known and she takes it all in stride.

“I’ve been traveling to the race track since I was three weeks old,” Venturini reminisced. “I grew up riding in a white, cube truck going down the road to virtually every race in America. This is normal for me and this is my family business. I don’t know any better than being on the road for 10 months – I’m just getting paid to travel now.”

As for the possibility of Venturini becoming burned out and disenchanted with the hectic NASCAR travel schedule, don’t expect that anytime soon.

“I love traveling and covering NASCAR and I hope it will last a long time,” Venturini said. “This is my dream and this is my gig and I don’t want to do anything else with my life.”

SPEED, now in more than 76 million homes in North America, is the exclusive home of the NASCAR Nextel All-Star Challenge, Gatorade Duels at Daytona, NASCAR Nextel Pit Crew Challenge and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The only network delivering live, at-track programming all season long, SPEED offers the definitive pre- and post-race NASCAR Nextel Cup Series programs – NASCAR RaceDay and NASCAR Victory Lane, as well as other popular NASCAR programs including Trackside Live, Tradin’ Paint, NASCAR Performance, NASCAR Live!, Inside Nextel Cup and Go or Go Home.

Second-generation driver and Chicago native Wendy Venturini unseated Spencer, the defending event champion, last night in the Fourth Annual NASCAR RaceDay School Bus Race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

Venturini, driving the “Skoolin’ the Boys” Bus, held off her NASCAR RaceDay on SPEED cohorts Kenny Wallace and Spencer for her second win in four years.

“I’m so proud of the “Skoolin’ the Boys” Bus Crew,” Venturini, a reporter for NASCAR RaceDay on SPEED, said. “The guys gave me a great bus that was awesome on the top end. Dirty-driving Spencer had me up on three wheels and I think I cut his tire. For all the young girls out there, it is okay to have a little dirt and oil on your face, especially when you beat the boys.”

In addition to Venturini, Spencer and Wallace, NASCAR RaceDay on-air personalities John Roberts, Hermie Sadler and Rutledge Wood participated in the eight-lap special event held on the quarter-mile frontstretch oval, along with track mascot Lug Nut.

Spencer, last year’s winner, again started at the rear of the field but quickly bulldozed his way to the front and traded the lead with Kenny Wallace before being body slammed by Wood. But Venturini snagged the lead from Wallace and took the win in her purple-flowered bus. Spencer, always a sore loser, protested Venturini’s win on the grounds of too many crew members.

Perhaps the biggest story of the night, though, was Wood’s rise to prominence as the next “Mr. Excitement.” Wood admitted afterward he and Venturini had made a secret pact in which Wood would block or take out as many buses as possible to help her secure the victory.

“It was so dark inside the cockpit that I couldn’t get the bus in fourth gear,” Wood said. “Once I found fourth, I began my rampage. John Roberts was the first to go when I spun him out. He threw his helmet at me in typical Robby Gordon fashion. Then Spencer was my next victim. When it was over, I punched Spencer out and got called to the trailer, which was more of a pop-up tent. But I learned a lot.”

Saturday’s NASCAR RaceDay on SPEED (4:30 p.m. ET) will showcase the rain-delayed grudge match.

Former NASCAR driver Jimmy Spencer couldn’t muscle his way into Victory Lane again this year … but he may have met his match for the title of “Mr. Excitement.”Second-generation driver and Chicago native Wendy Venturini unseated Spencer, the defending event champion, last night in the Fourth Annual NASCAR RaceDay School Bus Race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.Venturini, driving the “Skoolin’ the Boys” Bus, held off her NASCAR RaceDay on SPEED cohorts Kenny Wallace and Spencer for her second win in four years.“I’m so proud of the “Skoolin’ the Boys” Bus Crew,” Venturini, a reporter for NASCAR RaceDay on SPEED, said. “The guys gave me a great bus that was awesome on the top end. Dirty-driving Spencer had me up on three wheels and I think I cut his tire. For all the young girls out there, it is okay to have a little dirt and oil on your face, especially when you beat the boys.”In addition to Venturini, Spencer and Wallace, NASCAR RaceDay on-air personalities John Roberts, Hermie Sadler and Rutledge Wood participated in the eight-lap special event held on the quarter-mile frontstretch oval, along with track mascot Lug Nut.Spencer, last year’s winner, again started at the rear of the field but quickly bulldozed his way to the front and traded the lead with Kenny Wallace before being body slammed by Wood. But Venturini snagged the lead from Wallace and took the win in her purple-flowered bus. Spencer, always a sore loser, protested Venturini’s win on the grounds of too many crew members.Perhaps the biggest story of the night, though, was Wood’s rise to prominence as the next “Mr. Excitement.” Wood admitted afterward he and Venturini had made a secret pact in which Wood would block or take out as many buses as possible to help her secure the victory.“It was so dark inside the cockpit that I couldn’t get the bus in fourth gear,” Wood said. “Once I found fourth, I began my rampage. John Roberts was the first to go when I spun him out. He threw his helmet at me in typical Robby Gordon fashion. Then Spencer was my next victim. When it was over, I punched Spencer out and got called to the trailer, which was more of a pop-up tent. But I learned a lot.”Saturday’s NASCAR RaceDay on SPEED (4:30 p.m. ET) will showcase the rain-delayed grudge match.

SPEED, now in nearly 78 million homes in North America, is the exclusive home of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Gatorade Duel at Daytona, NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The only network delivering live, at-track programming all season long, SPEED offers the definitive pre- and post-race NASCAR Sprint Cup Series programs – NASCAR RaceDay and NASCAR Victory Lane, as well as other popular NASCAR programs including Trackside Live, Tradin’ Paint, NASCAR Performance, NASCAR Live!, This Week in NASCAR, NCTS Setup, Go or Go Home and The Chase is On.

Wendy Venturini, a reporter on Speed Channel’s NASCAR Raceday and a member of the WAM Board of Directors, will join NASCAR fans at Dover International Speedway on Saturday, May 31 for The NASCAR Foundation Track Walk.Walk around the famous Monster Mile to raise funds for the Women’s Auxiliary of Motorsports and other members of The NASCAR Foundation Family of Charities.

Wendy says, “This is my third year being involved in the NASCAR Track Walks on behalf of the NASCAR Foundation. As a board member for WAM, I have so much pride representing WAM and our charitable causes. What a great way to help others in need! I hope race fans and industry insiders come join me and TEAM WAM as we take a lap around Dover this Saturday.”

The NASCAR Foundation Track Walks give fans the unique opportunity to walk a lap around some of the most famous race tracks in NASCAR. Not only do walkers experience the track from a different perspective and enjoy the sights and sounds from the racing surface, they also benefit very worthy causes through fundraising!

A NASCAR Foundation Track Walk is a great event for friends and family members looking for entertainment at the track between race activities. Event participants will enjoy a kick-off celebration prior to entering the track for their one lap trek. Get your group together today and get on track for charity! Track Walk participants also have the opportunity to raise funds andawareness for the charitable causes supported by The NASCAR Foundation Track Walks—including the Women’s Auxiliary of Motorsports–by using the NASCAR Foundation’s online fundraising tools and other fundraising resources. Fans can earn prizes based on the amount of donations they raise. Wendy will also have some of her own prizes on hand for members of TEAM WAM!

The Dover International Speedway Track Walk is unique to any other walk that The NASCAR Foundation will be hosting this year. At Dover, fans will have the chance to walk with a representative from their favorite driver or industry-related charity including Ryan and Krissie Newman, Juan Pablo Montoya, Greg Biffle, Martin Truex, Jr., Darrell Waltrip, Matt Kenseth, Aric Almirola, SPEED reporter Wendy Venturini and NASCAR celebrity representatives from the Kenny Irwin Jr. Memorial Foundation and the Autism Society of Deleware. (**Celebrity appearances are subject to availability.)

Registration for all walk groups is currently open. Space is limited in each of group, but general registration will remain open &&online (until Wednesday, &May 28) and at-track prior to the event.

EVENT DETAILS

Date/Time: Saturday, May 31st at 6:00 PM (immediately following the Nationwide Series race)

At-Track Registration: Friday, May 30th from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM and Saturday, May 31st from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM

Registration Location: Across from Gate 4 at the entrance to the Fan Zone

Walk Kick-Off Location: Walk Kick-Off will begin approximately 5:30 PM at the SPEED Stage (look for the SPEED Tower)

Event Fee: $30 online (Individual Participant; Children 14 and under may walk for free with a paid adult)

$35 at track (Individual Participant; Children 14 and under may walk for free with a paid adult)

NASCAR Sprint All-Star 2008 Hometown Heroes is Venturini’s first, full-length special for SPEED. Her “Real Deal with Wendy Venturini” weekly feature on NASCAR RaceDay has received critical acclaim for its in-depth interviews with drivers and figures in NASCAR. In addition to her “Real Deal” segments, Venturini serves as a garage reporter for NASCAR RaceDay, which is enjoying double-digit ratings increases from a year ago.

While young and old eyes alike will watch their heroes, racing’s finest, in the May 17 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race XXIV (7 p.m. ET on SPEED), a few will see beyond the men behind the helmets and remember the youngsters they knew, their protégés, before they were stars.

In the May 14 NASCAR Sprint All-Star 2008 Hometown Heroes hosted by Wendy Venturini (9 p.m. ET on SPEED), SPEED turns the tables on the All-Stars and focuses on their mentors, the everyday people who helped mold them into the successful men they have become.

Venturini, dubbed by some the “Barbara Walters of racing,” asked drivers qualified for the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race XXIV to identify their “hometown heroes,” those who have inspired and helped them in their lives and careers.

She then traveled across the United States to interview those named to discuss their lives and their memories of the stars of today.

“It was amazing to me how honored these ‘hometown heroes’ were that the drivers had designated them as someone who’d had a substantial influence on their lives and careers,” Venturini said. “They were in awe of the recognition and most of them kept trying to turn the focus back onto the drivers and how proud they are of what the drivers have become. Everyone has someone who has inspired them along the way and this show focuses on the inspiration behind the All-Star heroes, the best of the best in NASCAR.”

Those featured in the special include: Ryan Newman and his high school teacher, Frank Cackowski; Ken Schrader and fellow dirt racer, 71-year-old Don Klein; David Ragan and his father, Ken Ragan; Brian Vickers and his home school teacher, Cheryl Martin; Carl Edwards and his good friend, Timmy Kohuth (former Schrader crew member and truck crew chief); David Reutimann and his father, Buzzy Reutimann; and Matt Kenseth and his father, Roy Kenseth.

One of the hometown heroes witnessed a monumental accomplishment by his driver in the Daytona 500. Frank Cackowski, Newman’s high school teacher in South Bend, Ind., suffers from Crohn’s Disease but experienced one of the most rewarding moments of his life when Newman won the biggest race of the year.

“Frank had just gotten out of the hospital the Friday before the Daytona 500 after another surgery, “Venturini said. “He could barely move. He said when Ryan won the Daytona 500, it was such a huge boost for him, a shot-in-the-arm, and it gave him so much pride knowing he taught a student who was now a Daytona 500 winner. That tugs on the heartstrings and I hope we can convey that to the race fans.”

Cackowski, who also taught David Stremme, was one of the “cool” teachers and would slide Newman his old sprint car racing newspapers before class.

“Obviously, I knew he was a racer, so rather than throw them away, I just brought them to class thinking he’d like to have them,” Cackowski said. “But I soon realized I had to give them to him AFTER class instead of before, because sometimes I’d catch him peeking through them during class. I didn’t scold him or anything, I just started giving them to him after class … but I think he got the message.”

Buzzy Reutiman credits racing with keeping his son on the straight-and-narrow.

“I was lucky we were involved in racing,” Buzzy Reutimann said. “We’d be coming home at night after the race and David would have his little mini-stock and we’d be towing it. We cut through these little towns on the way home and you’d see some of these kids sitting on the hoods of cars in parking lots, but I always knew where my boy was – right behind me. I wanted him to grow up and to be a good boy and he has … he’s made me really proud.”

SPEED, now in nearly 78 million homes in North America, is the exclusive home of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Gatorade Duel at Daytona, NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The only network delivering live, at-track programming all season long, SPEED offers the definitive pre- and post-race NASCAR Sprint Cup Series programs – NASCAR RaceDay and NASCAR Victory Lane, as well as other popular NASCAR programs including Trackside Live, Tradin’ Paint, NASCAR Performance, NASCAR Live!, This Week in NASCAR, NCTS Setup, Go or Go Home and The Chase is On.

This week, with NASCAR heading to the Chicago area, there are some interesting facts about her local connections. Her great-grandfather came to Chicago from Italy back in 1927. His son Tony opened an Amoco service station and became the first member of her family to be involved in racing as a driver.

Most fans know Wendy’s father Bill, and her brother Billy, who have raced for many years in both ARCA and NASCAR. I got a great kick out of learning that when Wendy’s dad married her mom Cathy, they began their honeymoon at the Rockford Speedway in Rockford, Illinois. Now, that’s a racing family.

My memories of Bill Venturini came from his ARCA racing, but also from the fact that he had an all-female pit crew for many years. As you may have guessed, his wife was the front tire changer. I kid you not. Wendy and her brother traveled to almost every race as kids, and literally grew-up in stock car racing.

On Sunday’s edition of RaceDay on SPEED, Wendy interviewed Mario Andretti at his winery in Napa, California. Andretti is one of the toughest men in racing, and has a long history of frosty relations with the media. Several times during the interview, Mario told her that she was asking great questions. That alone got my attention.

It seemed that now, permanently separated from his driving days, Andretti felt comfortable speaking openly and honestly about his career, his regrets, and his life in America. The scenery was great, the interview was first-rate, and the comments from Andretti were memorable. But, there is more to the story.

Mario Andretti and his twin brother Aldo were born in Italy, and fled the country to escape an occupation by outside forces. They re-settled in Nazareth, PA with one hundred and twenty-five dollars to their name. Now, Mario sits in his winery in Napa and reflects on a racing life that includes a Daytona 500 win.

Somehow, it seems only fitting that he does that while being interviewed by a woman whose own family emigrated from Italy, worked hard for their dreams, and now proudly watches as Wendy emerges as one of the most trusted television personalities on the NASCAR scene.

Where Wendy Venturini will wind-up is anyone’s guess. Most believe she will eventually graduate to a higher profile role on sports television. So, for this season, its a smart idea for fans and viewers to appreciate her hard work while she is still patrolling the “NASCAR beat” for SPEED. After reading this, maybe more fans will understand where she gets her work ethic, and why she can’t stop smiling.

“I think if I told half the stories I knew,” Venturini says, “I wouldn’t have nearly the amount of respect I’m able to get.”

It’s the respect and trust factor that helps Venturini excel as a correspondent for the Speed Channel’s “NASCAR Raceday” and as a pit reporter for the network’s coverage of the ARCA RE/MAX Series.

“You have to ask, even if you know or are aware of a situation, is it worth telling it?” Venturini says. “What good is going to come from it?”

Venturini has a good sense of what should or shouldn’t be said because she’s literally grown up in the sport.

Her family has been in racing for ages. Her father Bill has been a driver for decades – and even fielded a female pit crew in the 80s as a publicity stunt – and her brother now races.

Wendy also made history last Sunday when she became the first woman to call a full NASCAR race, which she did as part of DirecTV’s NASCAR HotPass package.

Being the first to do it as a female isn’t an issue for Venturini.

“I don’t look at it that I’m a female trying to make my way to the top within NASCAR,” she says. “I’m just trying to excel in this industry.”

Venturini, however, is one of a growing number of female TV personalities covering racing on a regular basis. Among some of the others are Jamie Little, who works the pits on ESPN – and who has covered motocross for ESPN2 – and Shannon Spake who is a reporter for ESPN’s “NASCAR Now,” “NASCAR Countdown” and works races.

“There has been an increase in the female presence,” Venturini says. “What’s funny, though, is sometimes you don’t see them stick around for very long. They use it for a stepping stone for something else.”

Not Venturini. She’s here to stay.

“This is what I do,” she says. “This is what I’m passionate about.”

In fact, women have been playing unusual roles in Venturini’s family for a long, long time. Her mother was her father’s car owner long before women were allowed in the NASCAR garages. Her aunt changed tires.

“That probably helped pave the way for how I viewed this industry,” she says. “My mother always taught me to not let my gender get in the way.”

When the family wasn’t on the road, Venturini grew up in Chicago. Bill Venturini then moved his racing operation, and his family, to Charlotte in 1993.

She’s had no desire to drive race cars. She went to college for broadcasting and psychology and got into racing television when she tagged along to the Speed Channel where her dad had a job.

She started behind the camera and eventually moved in front of the camera as a pit reporter.

“I want to get the information out to the fans in a manner that’s understandable,” she says. “I want to put it in layman’s terms. If you’re a brand new NASCAR fan, or a fan for 40 years, I want to relate that to you.”

The job, however, does come with some downsides. NASCAR’s season starts in February and extends into November. And, come January testing starts for the following year.

So, love lives, personal lives, anything resembling a 9-5 sort of goes out the window.

“I think it’s all relative to what you see as ‘normal,’” she says. “It’s normal for me to live life this way. I was three weeks old at the Texas Speedway.”

So, it should then come as no surprise that Venturini got engaged last week – during NASCAR’s stop in Sonoma, Calif. – and is planning a wedding for the off months. Her future husband is Jarrad Egert an engine tuner for Tony Stewart, so the upside is they’re on the same schedule.

Being a woman who grew up in the business does help in the job, Venturini says. For some reason, the male drivers are more willing to open up, she says.

“I try to get the personalities of the garage area out. That’s a part that’s glossed over by some of the men,” she says. “I get a lot of stories out of the guys that other people might not get.”

She thinks some of that ability to get more out of the guys comes from being around them for, well, all of her 28 years on earth.

“I love my job,” she says. “I’m really humbled by it all. It’s really hard for me to talk about the good things. I’m just a normal, average girl who grew up in the sport.”

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more_sports/2007/06/27/2007-06-27_the_stories_venturini_could_tell.html#ixzz15g3W9m4Z

On the channel devoted to Robby Gordon, Wendy Venturini will call the race.

She’s worked as a Speed Channel reporter and producer and, she says, “grew up at racetracks” because racing was the family business. “My mom had to be escorted through the garage when my dad raced; women weren’t allowed in alone. So, we’ve come a long way. I’m just humbled by this.”

Still, Wendy says her father, Bill, had an all-female Cup pit crew as a “publicity stunt” in the 1980s — “my mom and aunt were tire changers, another aunt was a jackwoman.”

But DirecTV vice president Chris Long, who got the idea for using Venturini after a viewer e-mail noted it would be a TV first, says this is no stunt: “She’s gone through the wringer — she didn’t just show up.”

Scoring an average Nielsen Household Rating of 1.08 (727,000 Households) last weekend at Michigan, NASCAR RaceDay continues to demonstrate tremendous growth as the definitive NASCAR pre-race show. The Michigan show peaked at 1.34 (899,000 HH) and year-to-date, NASCAR RaceDay is up 25 percent over last year’s pre-race show on SPEED, with much of the growth coming in younger demographics.

“The chemistry between our on-air team — John Roberts, Jimmy Spencer, Kenny Wallace and Wendy Venturini — is incredible,” said Chris Long, VP of Studio Production for SPEED. “That’s the key to the growing popularity … it’s the people you see on camera, and dozens more behind the scenes, working their butts off each week to bring NASCAR fans an entertaining and informative show.

“We’ve done a lot to increase the show’s appeal, including infusing it with more music and updating graphics packages,” Long added. “But at the end of the day, it’s the people. This team is delivering week in and week out and the fans are responding to it.”

Fourteen of the year’s 24 episodes of NASCAR RaceDay have enjoyed double-digit ratings growth, including five of the last seven. Ratings among Men 18-34 are up 43 percent from a year ago.

SPEED, celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2006, is the nation’s first and foremost cable network dedicated to motor sports and the passion for everything automotive. From racing to restoration, motorcycles to movies, SPEED delivers quality programming from the track to the garage. Now available in more than 71 million homes in North America, SPEED is among the fastest-growing sports cable networks in the country, the home to NASCAR on SPEED and an industry leader in interactive TV, video on demand, mobile initiatives and broadband services.