Luke Fenhaus, the 21-year-old promising prospect from Wausau, Wisconsin, is scheduled to make his O’Reilly Auto Parts NASCAR debut in the season-opening United Rentals 300 on February 14 at Daytona International Speedway.
Fenhaus will drive the No. 5 Dark Horse Ford Mustang for Hettinger Racing, a team also attempting to make its series debut.
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“My experience comes from recent modeling and seeing Luke’s development in real time. He’s smart, he takes care of his equipment, he learns quickly and, ultimately, he wins,” team owner Chris Hettinger said in the Jan. 27 announcement.
Luke Fenhaus is shown before the 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series DQS Solutions & Staffing 250 at Michigan International Speedway.
Fenhaus broke out in 2021 when he became the youngest winner of the prestigious Slinger Nationals, then led NASCAR champion Tony Stewart and IndyCar veteran Marco Andretti before finishing second in the Superstar Racing Experience event at Slinger Speedway on national television.
“To be at Daytona five years later to make my NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series debut is a testament to the work we put into this,” Fenhaus said. “My family, my partners, my friends – they have all been very supportive. Chris Hettinger has given me a great opportunity to take the next step in my career and I want to repay his faith with a good, solid run at Daytona.”
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Fenhaus won the 2022 CARS Tour Pro Late Model championship, made his ARCA debut in 2023 with a victory in his third race and has made 15 starts in the Craftsman Truck Series over the past two seasons.
This article originally appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin’s Luke Fenhaus ready for O’Reilly NASCAR debut at Daytona
