A Short-Track Star Steps Onto NASCAR’s Biggest Stage

You can add another name to the ever-growing list of NASCAR’s next generation that’s worth paying attention to, and this one comes with receipts. Luke Fenhaus, a 21-year-old from Wisconsin, is set to take the next step up NASCAR’s famously unforgiving ladder when he makes his NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series debut on the sport’s biggest possible stage: Daytona International Speedway in a few short weeks.

Fenhaus isn’t just another Midwestern hopeful armed with a dream, a pickup truck, and a stack of racing hero cards. He’s a short track phenom who has earned a reputation dominating short tracks in late models earning wins at the prestigious Slinger Nationals and a CARS Pro Late Model Tour championship along the way. Those sorts of accomplishments tend to get noticed in racing circles where results matter more than hype.

NASCAR first got a glimpse of Fenhaus in 2021 after he won the Slinger Speedway track championship (and Rookie of the year) which earned him a starting spot in the penultimate Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) event at Slinger. In front of a primetime network TV audience. Fenhaus, then just 17, started second and led 18 times for a race-high 92 laps. He finished second behind IndyCar driver Marco Andretti while holding off three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Tony Stewart.

For a teenager still young enough to need parental permission slips, it was a rather loud announcement.

“Winning the Slinger Nationals and getting that SRX invite was a game changer. It put me on peoples’ radar and helped open some doors. I worked hard to make the most of it,” Fenhaus said.

In 2022, Fenhaus won the CARS Tour Pro Late Model championship and its Rookie of the Year title. The following year he made his ARCA debut, and in his just his third career start, he won the May 13 Music City 200 at Nashville Superspeedway. Fenhaus won again two races later, taking the checkered flag in the July 15 Calypso 150 at Newton Speedway in Iowa. In eight career ARCA starts, Fenhaus scored five top three finishes.

Fenhaus made his NASCAR Truck Series debut in 2024 with ThorSport Racing entering three races that season highlighted by two top 10 finishes. Last season, Fenhaus entered 12 Truck series races with a career-best third-place drive after winning the pole June 7 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn.

All of this while still racing and winning, in Late Models. Now he will take his next step in NASCAR moving up into the final step before the big leagues.

“It’s been a steady climb, one step at a time,” Fenhaus said. “Late Models are my foundation, ARCA helped me take the next step, and the Truck Series taught me what it takes to compete at a national level. To be making my NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series debut at Daytona is something I’ve worked toward for a long time, and I’m ready for it.”

Fenhaus will make his debut racing the No. 5 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Hettinger Racing, a team that is also making its O’Reilly Series debut at Daytona.

“My background is in Late Model racing and I’ve seen Luke’s development in real time. He’s smart, he takes care of his equipment, he learns quickly and, ultimately, he wins,” said team owner Chris Hettinger. “Luke belongs in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and we’re proud to have him in our Ford Mustang at Daytona.”

In NASCAR, debuts come and go. Some are forgettable. Others are the first chapter of something much bigger. Fenhaus’ résumé suggests he’s intent on making his count—and Daytona has a way of letting everyone know, immediately, who belongs.