Luke Fenhaus pulled out a victory in Wisconsin's longest super late model race while Ty Majeski, Erik Jones and Carson Hocevar all had problems.
KAUKAUNA – Luke Fenhaus picked up the second signature win of his stock car career Aug. 5 in the ASA Midwest Tour Gandrud Auto Group 250 at Wisconsin International Raceway.
The 21-year-old from Wausau battled back and forth with Gabe Sommers for the lead after a restart with 14 laps to go before pulling away for a victory of 1.5 seconds over Austin Nason. Derek Kraus finished third.
The restart situation was reminiscent of 2024, when Fenhaus overdrove in a battle with Ty Majeski on a restart and rode up over the nose of Majeski's car. Contact with Sommers this time fell well within the bounds of good, hard racing.
Fenhaus has mixed a partial schedule of NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races with super late model special events in his family-owned No. 4 car. He won the Icebreaker 100 at Dells Raceway Park in April, but the $15,000 win in the 250 is rivaled only by the 2021 Slinger Nationals at Slinger Speedway among Fenhaus’s racing accomplishments.
The Gandrud 250 included two NASCAR Cup Series drivers, Carson Hocevar and Erik Jones.
Hocevar, making his third appearance in the race, was forced to start from the rear after his car didn’t meet minimum weight requirements after qualifying. He raced through the field, ran the first 233 laps before stopping to change tires and then got all the way back to fourth, only to be disqualified again. The diameter of the axle on Hocevar’s car was ruled to be out of compliance.
Jones, who had made one previous start at WIR, struggled from the get-go. Airbox problems shortened his practice, and then he battled handling throughout the feature. Jones finished 14th.
Hocevar’s disqualification elevated Johnny DeAngelis fourth, and Sommers finished fifth after he took the brunt of contact from Kraus.
Seymour native and Neenah resident Ty Majeski, the reigning NASCAR truck champion, was racing for what would have been his sixth 250 win in seven starts as well as his 100th super late model victory, but he spun with contact twice and dropped out 19 laps short of the finish in 18th.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Luke Fenhaus wins $15,000 ASA Midwest Tour Gandrud 250 in Kaukauna
Category: General Sports
