On Tuesday, Venturini Motorsports announced that Gus Dean will return to the organization for a second consecutive season, contesting a four-race slate in the ARCA Menards Series.
The Bluffton, South Carolina native will begin his four-race stint with the team in the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway on February 18th. He will return to the seat of the No. 25 entry at Talladega Superspeedway in April, Michigan International Speedway in August, and Salem Speedway in September.
“I am pumped up about returning to Venturini Motorsports in 2023,” Dean said in a team release. “I am looking forward to building on the success we achieved last season, and I strongly believe this season we can turn our success into checkered flags and get ourselves a win or two throughout the year.”
This will be Dean’s second straight part time season with Venturini Motorsports. In his four starts last season, split between the team’s No. 15 and No. 55 entries, the 28-year-old recorded top-five results in all of them, including a season-high fourth in the spring race at Kansas Speedway.
Dean, a six-year veteran of the ARCA Menards Series, will join Amber Balcaen, Jesse Love, and Toni Breidinger as part of Venturini’s four-driver lineup for the season-opening event at Daytona. The four drivers took the top four spots on the speed chart in ARCA’s pre-season test session at Daytona on January 13th and 14th.
“I can’t begin to describe how fast our Toyota Camry was during the test last month,” added Dean. “It was really fast every single run. We just made it better and better throughout the two-day test, and I left the track knowing it’s the best superspeedway car I have ever had. I hope we are able to build on the success and our notes during the event weekend and I can keep the Venturini Motorsports streak alive at Daytona, and capture my third, but a biggest, win of my ARCA career.”
In 59 ARCA Menards Series starts, Dean has secured a pair of victories, including his second ever series start at Talladega in 2016, as well as 18 top-five and 34 top-10 results. In 2019, Dean also competed full-time in the then NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series, where he collected a best finish of 13th, driving for Young’s Motorsports.
“I feel really positive about Gus [Dean] at Daytona,” said Billy Venturini, team co-owner. “He is the most experienced of all the drivers on our roster. I feel like he can bring a veteran calmness to the team. Without a doubt, he should be able to contend for the win and improve the team as a whole with his leadership.”
Dean, alongside his three teammates for the 200-mile contest, will look to secure Venturini Motorsports its sixth consecutive ARCA Menards Series victory at Daytona International Speedway. He will also compete in the World Series of Asphalt at New Smyrna Speedway, piloting a pro late model for DLP Motorsports.
