Concord, North Carolina (October 17, 2016) – Dalton Sargeant wrapped up his impressive first season in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards series by earning the 2016 SCOTT Rookie of the Year (ROY) Award. With fifteen total arca starts, Sargeant collected one win, 10 top-5 and 12 top-10 finishes giving the rookie an impressive 5.9 average finishing position throughout the season.
Seemingly headed for his second career victory in Friday night’s finale, Sargeant settled for a heartbreaking 12th place finish after ignition problems plagued the 18-year old’s No.55 TRD-Windows 10 Toyota Camry while leading during the late stages of the Kansas 150. Sargeant in control, led 25-laps before losing power and relinquishing the lead to eventual race winner Chase Briscoe on lap 76 of the 100 lap event.
“Overall it was a great year for all of us on this 55 team,” said Sargeant. “Winning rookie of the year and the superspeedway challenge is really an accomplishment especially when you look at the field and the amount of talent in the series; it’s truly something special. Each and every week as a driver I’m learning more and more every time I come to the track. It’s absolutely a blast working with the guys on this team and learning as much as I can, especially with my crew chief, Billy Venturini. I’m very thankful for the opportunity and support of Toyota, Windows 10 and everyone else who made this year possible.”
Sargeant becomes the third driver for Venturini Motorsports to earn ROY honors and the second over the last three seasons. Two-time ARCA Series Champion, Bill Venturini, won ROY in 1983 and Justin Boston earned the award in 2013.
In addition to earing the 2016 ROY award, Sargeant also closed out and delivered the General Tire Superspeedway Challenge Championship to his No.55 Venturini Motorsports team.
The General Tire Superspeedway Challenge is a special championship within the season awarding the team (car) with the best combined finishes in ARCA’s eight superspeedway races. The events included Daytona, Talladega, the two races at Pocono, Michigan, Chicagoland, Kentucky, Kansas.
Venturini Motorsports’ Dalton Sargeant and William Byron combined to win the 2016 General Tire Superspeedway Challenge. Sargeant, who competed in seven out of eight General Tire Superspeedway Challenge races earned two top-3, four top-5 and six top-10 series finishes. William Byron, a championship contender in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, kicked-off the season finishing second at Daytona while driving VMS’ No.55 Toyota.
Sargeant will officially be crowned ARCA’s SCOTT Rookie of the Year at this season’s championship awards banquet in Indianapolis, IN on December 10.
ABOUT VENTURINI MOTORSPORTS:
Venturini Motorsports (VMS), fielding cars for over 30-years in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards, is one of the premier NASCAR driver development programs in the country. Multiple team championships and consistent on-track success, VMS has evolved into one of the most recognizable names in motorsports. Since 2007, VMS has assisted in the career development of notable NASCAR drivers such as Joey Logano, Erik Jones, William Byron, Justin Allgaier, Alex Bowman, Brian Scott, Ryan Blaney, Brennan Poole, Daniel Suarez, Brandon Jones and John Wes Townley. Over the years the Venturini name has become synonymous with modern-day racing in America. In 2012, the Venturini family was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame (www.NIASHF.org) and now find themselves enshrined with such sports icons as Joe DiMaggio, Mario Andretti, Vince Lombardi, Tommy Lasorda and Rocky Marciano.
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