"My mom was escorted through NASCAR garage": Veteran broadcaster Wendy Venturini shares her family's clever way around NASCAR’s restrictions

NASCAR broadcaster Wendy Venturini recently shared a clever story about how her father found a way around for her mother amid NASCAR’s strict garage rules in the 1980s and 1990s.

Venturini was the first female play-by-play announcer in auto racing and started her NASCAR career in 2004. In 2014, she became the first woman to anchor a Cup Series race broadcast and started her 25th year this season.

During episode 4 of 'MotorVate' with Jamie Little, Venturini explained how her father, Bill Venturini, who founded Venturini Motorsports, helped her mother get access to the garage.

"My mother was in the '80s and '90s, she was escorted through the garage area because women were not allowed in the NASCAR garages," Venturini said (02:30).

"With my father's racing career, I remember when she got escorted through the garage 'cause she was always traveling with my dad. My dad questioned, 'Well, why? Why can't she walk through here?' And they said, 'You know, only drivers, crew members, and car owners.' And so my dad said, 'All car owners?' And they said, 'Yes.' And so the very next week, he registered my mother as the car owner in NASCAR, and she's been a car owner ever since," she added (02:56 onwards).

Female members in NASCAR garages are still limited. Brehanna Daniels, Breanna O’Leary, and Dalanda Ouendeno are part of a few female pit crew members in the sport.

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NASCAR rule change causes confusion

NASCAR has updated its rules on damaged cars for the 2025 season. Kyle Busch’s tough exit from the NASCAR Cup Series season-opener Daytona 500 highlighted the change.

Busch was involved in a multi-car crash on Lap 186 that took out most of the front of the field. According to the rule, a damaged car after leaving the garage gets one chance to reach the required speed before it is out. Busch’s car was towed, repaired, and tried to return under caution but was not allowed in the field.

The Richard Childress Racing driver thought he should have had three chances to get back in the race after a crash but NASCAR only gave him one.

"Parked by NASCAR officials. Rule says you have 3 attempts to make minimum speed. The race never went back green yet. I don’t even think they know their own rules or procedure," Busch wrote on X.

NASCAR changed its repair rules earlier this year and had to clarify after the outrage surrounding Busch's comments. The new rules let teams fix damaged cars in the garage and have seven minutes to repair cars on the pit road.

However, there are still strict limits on returning to the race. After pit road time is up, teams can finish repairs in the garage, but once back on track, cars get only one chance to reach race speed.