Venturini’s No. 20 team wins the 2024 General Tire Superspeedway Challenge with a last-lap pass at Kansas

The 2024 General Tire Superspeedway Challenge came down to the final lap of its final race at Kansas Speedway, with one point separating the winning team, Billy Venturini’s No. 20 Venturini Motorsports car, and the runner-up, the Kansas race-winning No. 18 out of the Joe Gibbs Racing organization.

The General Tire Superspeedway Challenge dates back to 1984, the first won by team owner Davey Allison for his efforts on paved tracks that measured one mile in length or longer. Other notable winners of the award throughout the years include series champions Jim Coyle, Cathy Venturini, Shelly Brevak, Ron Keselowski, Harold Steele, Larry Clement, Duke Thorson, Ken Schrader and Venturini.

This year’s General Tire Superspeedway Challenge consisted of seven races — Daytona International Speedway, Phoenix Raceway, Talladega Superspeedway, Kansas Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Michigan International Speedway and a second race at Kansas.

The No. 20 team fielded three drivers in those seven races. Jake Finch drove the car to victory at Talladega, fourth at Michigan, fifth at Charlotte and 11th at Daytona. Dean Thompson drove the car to seventh at Charlotte; and Gio Ruggiero finished second at Phoenix and fifth in his first intermediate track start at Kansas last weekend.

The No. 18 team fielded two drivers in those seven races. William Sawalich won at Phoenix and was 17th at Dover after a run-in with Connor Zilisch while battling for the lead. Tanner Gray also drove the car to wins at Charlotte and Kansas as well as a pair of third-place finishes at Talladega and Michigan.

The downfall for the No. 18 team’s chances came in the season-opener at Daytona, which saw Gray finish 24th.

The No. 18 team still had a chance headed into the finale at Kansas, and Gray was up to the task. He led a race-high 88 laps but had to battle for the lead in an overtime finish. He got the jump on Amber Balcaen, who was pushed into the side of his car when Zilisch made an attempt to push her into the lead. The contact cut the left rear tire on Gray’s car, but he held on to take the win.

Meanwhile, Ruggiero started the final lap seventh, and had he finished there, it would have resulted in a draw with the tiebreaker favoring the Gibbs team. But entering Turn 1 on the final circuit, Corey Day made contact with Andy Jankowiak battling for third, sending Jankowiak into the outside wall. His momentum was broken, and Ruggiero was able to pass him down the backstretch.

That final-lap pass for position was just enough to give team owner Bill Venturini his third General Tire Superspeedway Challenge championship in the last nine years.