ARCA: Venturini Hauler Catches Fire En Route to Elko Speedway

Venturini Motorsports, one of the most successful organizations in the history of the ARCA Menards Series, have run into some major issues heading to this weekend’s Shore Lunch 250 at Elko Speedway in Minnesota.

While on the way to Elko New Market, Minnesota, a hauler carrying a racecar and equipment for Venturini Motorsports caught fire, briefly shutting down a part of Interstate 40 in Jefferson County, Tennessee, on Friday.

The exact location of the fire was on Interstate 40 West at Exit 417 near Dandridge.

According to the Dandridge Fire Chief, Andy Riley, a semi-truck hauling a trailer with an ARCA Menards Series vehicle inside caught fire at about 11:00am ET, which subsequently shut down the interstate as cleanup efforts began.

Inside of the hauler was the No. 55 Yahoo! Toyota Camry XSE that Toyota Driver Development (T2D) competitor Isabella Robusto will pilot in this weekend’s short track race. Despite the fire, the fire department says that the racecar was undamaged.

The Dandridge Fire Department says that one of the wheels of the trailer blew out while traveling on Interstate 40 and sparked the fire. That fire weakened the floor of the trailer, but fire crews on the scene were able to extinguish the fire before it reached the inside.

As of 11:30am ET, one lane of Interstate 40 West had been reopened for traffic and was moving again. However, traffic remained backed up past the Interstate 81 split.

Racing America On SI has reached out to Venturini Motorsports in hopes of obtaining comment on the incident, as well as whether or not this fire will have any ramifications on the No. 55’s ability to compete in Saturday’s event. As of the time of publishing, no response has been received.

A native of Fort Mill, South Carolina, Isabella Robusto is in her rookie season of competition in the ARCA Menards Series, where she joins Lawless Alan as the two full-time drivers for Venturini Motorsports.

After a tough start to the season, Robusto sits sixth in ARCA Menards Series point standings on the strength of one top-five finish (a third at Talladega) and three top-10 finishes. Robusto is one of three drivers that will be driving for Venturini Motorsports this weekend, joining the aforementioned Lawless Alan and 2024 KDDP Champion Ty Fredrickson, who will drive the No. 25

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