CONCORD, N.C. – Jonathan Shafer will run five races in the ARCA Menards Series this year with Venturini Motorsports, the team announced Tuesday.
The 16-year-old’s debut in the Venturini No. 15 Toyota Camry is scheduled at Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway on April 29, part of the ARCA East Series.
The Ohio native has additional races planned at Iowa Speedway, Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway and Salem (Ind.) Speedway.
“This is such a great moment in my career,” Shaffer said. “A lot of hard work has gotten me to this point.
“I can’t thank Venturini Motorsports and Toyota enough for giving me this opportunity. I’m excited to have this chance and continue to develop as a driver. Knowing I’ll be running great equipment with a team as good as Venturini Motorsports gives me a lot of confidence going into my first start at Iowa.”
Following the typical path nowadays, Shafer began driving quarter midgets at the age of five and has methodically moved his way up the speed ranks.
With nearly 300 feature wins along the way, the high school junior has concentrated on midget racing and late models in recent years. Along with running with Toyota’s Keith Kunz Motorsports he has spent the last three seasons in the JEGS CRA Series and CARS Tour.
“I’ve gained a lot of great experience with Keith (Kunz) and his midget program along with Lee Pulliam in the CARS Tour,” Shaffer said. “The last couple of years racing late models have been an important stepping stone to get me where I am today. I’m focused on continuing to get better and go out this year and do the best I can.”