CONCORD, N.C. – Venturini Motorsports has added defending ValleyStar Credit Union 300 winner Landon Pembelton to its driver roster.
Sixteen-year-old Pembelton, who made headlines last year after winning the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway, will compete in four ARCA races under the team’s Toyota Racing Development banner.
The Amelia County, Va., born driver will pilot a Venturini Motorsports Toyota Camry in the ARCA Menards Series events at Elko Speedway, the Milwaukee Mile and Toledo Speedway, as well as the Fall Phoenix Raceway event in the ARCA Menards Series West.
“I am grateful for the opportunity with Venturini Motorsports and will make the most of the time. I am given to learn as much as I can,” said Pembelton. “Toyota and Venturini Motorsports are both proven winners in ARCA and I am excited for the challenge. I’m ready to rely on their leadership and knowledge to give me the best opportunity to succeed. I’ve got high expectations for myself. With the good equipment underneath me and knowing what I’m capable of, there’s no reason we can’t start off running top five.”
With some karting experience under his belt, yet relatively unknown within the racing community, the young Virginia driver’s interest in organized racing started in 2019. During his first year in the Limited Sportsman division at South Boston Speedway he ran eight races, capturing six top-five finishes. The following year he won the championship in the Virginia Racers Challenge Series, which was a collaboration between Dominion Raceway and Langley Speedway.
In November of 2020, Pembelton participated in a non-winners race for the late model division at Dominion Speedway, he managed to capture the checkered flag in his first attempt piloting a late model stock car. Two and a half years into the sport, he took the checkered flag in a NASCAR-sanctioned points race at South Boston Speedway on Aug. 7, 2021.
Now a high school junior, Pembelton was named the Virginia State Division I and the South East Division I Rookie of the Year in 2021 and also ranked 10th in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series National Division I Standings.
Pembelton will make his first career ARCA Menards Series start in the Elko 250 at Elko Speedway on June 25.