CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Rising late model star Luke Fenhaus has a lot to be thankful for, but he has even more to look forward to this year.
On Thursday Fenhaus announced his schedule for the upcoming season, which includes the entire CARS Pro Late Model Tour schedule in a car fielded by Highlands Motorsports. The Wisconsin native will also be racing in a dozen races in the Midwest, including events at The Milwaukee Mile, Slinger (Wis.) Super Speedway and Winchester (Ind.) Speedway.
“To kind of get my foot in the door, even NASCAR wise, I think it’s good to get down south and turn heads down there,” said Fenhaus. “I think we did a good job racing up here (in the Midwest) for the most part and kind of built a name for myself up here.
“That’s the main goal, to go down there and run good, run with a good team, make those good connections that I need and get the exposure that I need.”
Every CARS Pro Late Model Tour race will be broadcast live by SPEED SPORT TV affiliate Pit Row TV.
The 17-year-old had an incredible season last year. He became the youngest winner in the history of the Slinger Nationals at Slinger Super Speedway, a victory that earned him an opportunity to race on national television with the Superstar Racing Experience.
Battling against stars such as three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Tony Stewart and four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves, Fenhaus dominated the race only to finish second to Indy car veteran Marco Andretti.
He wrapped up the year by besting veteran Rich Bickle Jr. to win the Slinger super late model track championship. He also finished second in the ARCA Midwest Tour standings to Ty Majeski, which earned him the series’ rookie-of-the-year award.
At the time Fenhaus said it was hard for him to enjoy the moments because they passed quickly and new objectives were ahead of him.
“I don’t wrap myself up too much in the moment,” Fenhaus said. “I won the Slinger Nationals and the very next day I was on CBS with Michael Waltrip. Right after that, I’m doing a seat fit for SRX. Things were already rolling past Slinger Nationals, so it never really set in.
“It’s hard to let it sink in and realize what we accomplished there. There is so much more that I want to do and there is so much further that I want to go. There are always more races to win.”
Fenhaus explained that the opportunity to race in the Southeast came about thanks to a relationship with Lorin Ranier, son of former NASCAR car owner Harry Ranier. The younger Ranier has made a name in the motorsports industry by helping develop up-and-coming racers and facilitating opportunities.
Now he’s doing the same for Fenhaus.
“Lorin Rainer reached out to me probably mid to late summer last year and we’ve been talking for a while,” Fenhaus said. “He reached out to me and said, ‘Would you want to drive for someone?’ I said, ‘Well, of course.’
“That’s kind of where it started and it’s kind of just developed. Now it’s finalized and we’re going racing with them this season.”
The CARS Pro Late Model Tour schedule features a number of the most historic race tracks in the Southeast, including Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway, South Carolina’s Greenville-Pickens Speedway and South Boston (Va.) Speedway.
Those tracks will be a far cry from the Midwestern venues Fenhaus is used to tackling, but he’s looking forward to the new challenge and fully expecting to be competitive right out of the gate for the Highlands Motorsports team owned by Wade Lopez.
“I’m super excited to get down there and start working with them,” said Fenhaus. “I’ll get to meet everyone Team Chevy, spend some time with Lorin Rainer and build that connection and make some other connections that’ll help me in the future for bigger things and, obviously, start working with Highlands and (team general manager) Josh Reeves and start testing.
“I expect to go out first race and try to win. I don’t expect anything less than winning really. We work super hard on our race cars here and first race out in May up here I think we’ve got a good chance,” Fenhaus continued. “Even with Highlands Motorsports, I think they’re a good team, good equipment, good knowledge, good technology. My expectations are to win and keep moving up the ladder.”
The CARS Pro Late Model Tour season begins on March 12-13 at Caraway Speedway in Sophia, N.C.