Wausau racer Fenhaus, 15, has earned respect
Al Fenhaus is a proud dad, so his assessment might be a little biased.
“It’s amazing what he’s done in such a short time,” he said of son Luke and Luke’s burgeoning career as a stock-car driver. “It blows my mind.”
Then again, Al’s been surprised before.
He figured Luke for a snowmobile racer, like he was and like nephew Matt Schulz was. Al won the World Championship Derby in 1993 – a year before Luke was born – and he helped Matt win a pair.
But Luke? Meh.
“If I look at it now, I probably should have raced snowmobiles because all my family did it, but I don’t know, I really don’t,” Luke said. “I watched people at State Park and I just really liked superlate models and I liked big shows … and I liked NASCAR.”
So he moved quickly off Kitty Cat sleds and into go-karts, then Bandoleros, full-sized trucks and super-lates, the premier class of stock cars raced on asphalt short tracks around the state. Fenhaus won the title last season at State Park Speedway in his hometown of Wausau when he was still just 14 years old.
Al Fenhaus pointed out one detail about Luke’s development that is frequently overlooked: “We actually had to sit out one year because he wasn’t old enough to get in the truck, but yet I had to sell the Bando to build the truck for him.”
This season the younger Fenhaus, a sophomore-to-be at Wausau East High School, has spent more time away from the comfort zone that is his home track to race in some of the state’s big events against national-level competition.
Although he has yet to win a feature, Fenhaus has raced against the likes of national barnstormers Ty Majeski, Bubba Pollard and Stephen Nasse and 2003 NASCAR champion Matt Kenseth.
“Running at State Park and learning what the car does and then moving forward, learning more tracks, learning the cars and more communication with your crew, I think that all just comes with it,” Fenhaus said. “So when we go to these bigger races, we just do what we usually do (but at higher level).
“These guys are the best of the best. Like Ty, running with him and up front like we did at the Dells was a good run for us. If we can keep that going, I think we’re headed in the right direction.”
When the ARCA Midwest Tour drew drivers from 12 states to the Milwaukee Mile on Father’s Day weekend, Fenhaus was the fastest overall in practice, qualified fourth and finished 12th. At the Slinger Nationals – won by Kenseth – Fenhaus qualified second-fastest and placed eighth.
“It’s amazing to see his potential,” said Tom Roberts, executive director of the Kulwicki Driver Development Program, of which Fenhaus is the youngest of seven finalists. “But it’s also heartwarming to see people learning who he is. People wanting to know who he is.
“He’s doing himself a lot of good this year for venturing out, going to the different tracks and getting people asking, who is this young man?
“He’s not intimidated by new tracks, and it’s evident he’s not intimidated by any of the other drivers around him … and (he’s) getting their respect.”
This is an important season for Fenhaus for myriad reasons.
Among them, it’s his first chance to make a good impression on people who hadn’t seen him; he’s part of the Kulwicki program, which offers a $7,777 scholarship with a chance to earn more than $50,000 more; and he needs the help to turn his hopes and dreams into a long-term career plan in a sport fraught with uncertainty.
“If he’s going to really climb the ladder, as far as getting into the NASCAR top three divisions, he’s definitely going to have to turn some people on who have the financial backing to help get him there,” Roberts said. “I think that he has such a burning desire that even if It means he has to stick around the short tracks – like Ty (Majeski, a NASCAR prospect from Seymour) – to get the right people’s attention, he has that.”
Running two cars for different owners out of their shop, the Fenhauses will keep heading to big races – including the $10,000-to-win Dixieland 250 on Tuesday at Wisconsin International Raceway in Kaukauna – trying to challenge the big dogs, finish races, learn and earn respect and attention.
“I would like to run a few more races, but the budget’s not there to race him more,” Al Fenhaus said. “But I know he’s capable of running all the time.
“Right now, whatever happens, happens. I know Luke’s got the talent. We all know that now.”