Sometimes life comes at you fast.
For Luke Fenhaus, what started as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with the Superstar Racing Experience during the summer of 2021, turned into a potential championship within the span of two years.
Fenhaus, an 18-year-old from Wausau, Wis., is on the brink of earning the CARS Tour Pro Late Model championship in his inaugural season competing in the division.
Though he hasn’t finished worse than fourth all season, Fenhaus feels the switch from racing in the Midwest to Southeast has been a major adjustment.
“I think it’s been a learning process,” Fenhaus said. “It’s hard when you transition from the Midwest where you run with your own crew chief, for four straight years, and now you switch up crew chiefs. You get the feel of a different car and just different parts altogether, it’s a lot different. Then you switch that up with brand-new race tracks, it makes it hard. So I think it’s just been difficult finding a connection with by crew chief.”
Luke Fenhaus was the 2021 Slinger Super Speedway Track Champion. (Midwest Tour Photo)
Josh Reeves has been atop the pit box for Fenhaus. Reeves made one NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start in 2016 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, where he finished 28th.
As the season concludes Nov. 5 at Caraway (N.C.) Speedway, Fenhaus feels the chemistry has developed with Reeves, but wishes there was more time to fine-tune their connection.
“It’s tough, we didn’t really hit on something right away, but it’s kind of how it goes sometimes,” Fenhaus said. “Sometimes you hit on something right away, and sometimes it takes a while. It’s been a development for sure, and I think we’re getting better at it as we go. Just unfortunately we’re a little late in the season.”
Despite not finding a way to victory lane yet this season, Fenhaus currently holds a 19-point advantage over second-place runner Caden Kvapil in the standings.
When asked about the thought of a championship, Fenhaus mentioned races he felt could’ve been victories. However,maturity has helped give the 18-year-old a broader perspective on the ultimate goal.
“I think it’d be big,” Fenhaus said. “I know we haven’t had the finishes we’d like. We should’ve won more. I think right away, Caraway we were leading pretty much the whole race. I think it was the last 10 laps, I kind of blew that one away. Then Franklin County we should’ve won. It was kind of a mess of a restart with 20 to go. Kvapil blew up there and they had a bunch of oil dry down and they never cleaned it up, and I was really the first person to run through it, so it made it for a mess. We ended up finishing second there.
“Just the little things that we got to capitalize on,” Fenhaus continued. “It would mean a lot to grab the championship. That’s obviously what we’re going for. We just got to look at (the) big picture for these last couple races. We’re in a good position, but we got to stay consistent. We’ve been consistent all year long. I think we can go in, just do our thing, and be safe with it. Don’t run anybody really hard, just think about big picture.”
Marco Andretti streaks under the checkered flag ahead of Luke Fenhaus during last year’s SRX race at Wisconsin’s Slinger. (Doug Hornickel Photo)
Prior to a shot at a CARS Tour title, came Fenhaus’ big break at his home track.
Fenhaus earned a spot in the SRX field at Slinger (Wis.) Speedway after winning the prestigious Slinger Nationals. Racing against the likes of Tony Stewart, Helio Castroneves and Marco Andretti, Fenhaus showed off his talent.
Leading 92 laps in the feature, Fenhaus finished second to Andretti on a night he believes was a major stepping-stone in his racing career.
“I think it was huge. I think it was the biggest thing in my racing career so far,” Fenhaus said. “Tony Stewart helped me so much. Rick Ren has helped me so much at SRX. Multiple people have helped me get to where I’m at today. It’s propelled it fan-wise, publicity-wise, it’s where I’m at with the Chevy program. It’s helped me get to so many people in so many communication levels. I’ll forever not take that for granted.
“It pretty much propelled my career. Tony Stewart is a guy who I can call most days. He’s such a busy man that it’s cool to have someone like that kind of in the back of your phone,” Fenhaus continued. “When you need him, you can reach out and he’ll be there. I’m forever thankful for that opportunity to be involved with the SRX program. It’s just cool. It’s cool to have a short-track kid like me have that opportunity on the big stage and kind of doing something with it.”
That short-track kid from Wisconsin looks to continue his rise in the stock car ranks, with a potential championship in two weeks.
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Keyword: ‘Big Picture’ Mindset Has Fenhaus On Cusp Of Title