Fenhaus looking for fast start to August
Overwhelmed? Perhaps. For a short time. But Luke Fenhaus is too grounded to let the biggest week of his life go to his head.
Yes, he won the Slinger Nationals, a highlight for any super late model racer, much less a 17-year-old.
And yes, that qualified him to compete four days later, again at Slinger Speedway, with the Superstar Racing Experience on live national TV, against the likes of Tony Stewart and Marco Andretti. Fenhaus finished second to Andretti, who gushed about his talent and promise, as did series founders and NASCAR Hall of Famers Stewart and Ray Evernham.
“Almost right away it was like, I soaked it in in victory lane (after the Nationals) and that felt good, and … biggest win of my career, so it was huge for us,” Fenhaus said. “Right away I went into the SRX race, planned on really doing well, having really good lap times … turned some heads in the SRX race. Right away my mind was on to winning.
“And now we’re on to a few more races. It’s cool to win that and check that off the bucket list, but the next week rolls around you’re racing at a different place and you want to win there.”
Such as, for example, the Gandrud Auto Group 250 on Tuesday at the halfmile Wisconsin International Raceway in Kaukauna.
Not only is the race the longest of the year for super late model racers in the state, it also has the most stacked entry list of any this season.
In addition to the Midwest Tour, WIR regulars and a handful of state hotshots, the field includes national travelers Jesse Love, Sammy Smith and Casey Roderick as well as NASCAR Cup Series race winners Aric Almirola and William Byron.
Ty Majeski is the two-time defending champion. Another two-time winner is racing: Johnny Sauter, whose 2010 and 2014 victories bookended a three-year hiatus for the event. Rich Bickle, whose countless short-track victories include the ’89 race, is competing as part of his farewell tour at age 60.
“I really like that racetrack,” Fenhaus said. “It’s a fun racetrack. We’ve just got to stay on top of our things and just be patient and work through the field and do the best we can.”
While Fenhaus’ name has been on short-track fans’ minds as much as anyone, he actually hasn’t had as much success this season as he or some of his competitors expected.
Fenhaus has yet to win a weekly show at Slinger or on the Midwest Tour, both of which he is racing full time. In fact, he has just two checkered flags this season. But if you’re going to win just two, the $10,000 Slinger Nationals and the $5,000 Icebreaker 100 at Dells Raceway Park in Wisconsin Dells are two good ones.
“We’ve had winning cars for multiple races,” Fenhaus said. “Just sometimes track position is hard. It goes green for 75 laps usually (at Slinger) and it’s hard to save those tires and try to go to the front at the same time.
“It does surprise me. Winning Nationals, I thought we had our best car so far. It’s hard to win a weekly show. Those guys run harder than anywhere. It’s tough.”
In weekly shows at Slinger — where several top competitors branded Fenhaus as the man to beat — he has a top finish of second to Dennis Prunty on Memorial Day weekend and is second to Bickle in points. On the Midwest Tour, he finished second to Bickle in the season opener, matching his career best.
Fenhaus has raced just twice at WIR, both times in the 250, finishing 12th in 2019 and 17th last year.
“Kind of up and down,” he said of his performance at the D-shaped half-mile. “Last year we were fast in qualifying (third), fast in practice, a little bit in the race we were quick but we had a shock go bad and that kind of screwed our setup and our whole race.
“We’ve ran fast there. It’s kind of like these other tracks. We’ve got to put a whole race together.”
Fenhaus did at the Slinger Nationals and then nearly again with SRX before getting beat on a late restart.
Immediately afterward, Stewart called Fenhaus “the most composed 17year-old kid I’ve ever seen,” said he topped a lot of young drivers in the NASCAR steppingstone series and said he deserved a chance on the national level. Evernham said if owners weren’t calling after that performance, they were missing the boat.
In reality, Fenhaus’ phone has been relatively quiet. Still, networking with people the level of Stewart and Evernham was a good experience.
“It’s hard to wait for people to come to you, especially in this generation. It takes a lot of money,” Fenhaus said. “It’s hard for race teams; they don’t usually go to race-car drivers. But we made some really good connections that I think will help lead to something in the future.
“Just right now I’m focused on winning with my super late model program and making that program the best it can be and try and win that Kulwicki (Driver Development) Program. That would be the biggest thing on my agenda right now.”
Winning Tuesday night could only help.