Andres Perez, Luke Fenhaus Post Top-10 Finishes In Truck Series Debuts

For any driver with a high level of success in a feeder racing series, there comes a time when an opportunity presents itself to show what they can do at the next level of racing.

Two drivers making their NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debuts on Saturday (June 1) in the Toyota 200 at the World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway made the most of those chances.

Andres Perez had a solid day in his Truck Series debut, finishing ninth in the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado.  Luke Fenhaus overcame an early spin to rally for a tenth-place finish in the No. 66 ThorSport Racing Ford F-150, with some help by way of pit strategy.

Fenhaus fought back after that early spin, moving up 11 spots to 21st by the end of the second stage after being at the rear of the field to end the opening stage.  

“Just lack of experience with aerodynamics and these trucks,” Fenhaus said of the early spin. 

Within the race’s final 40 laps, crew chief Josh Hankish made the call to keep the driver of the No. 66 on the track a bit longer to gain track position in the event of a caution. The call worked, and Fenhaus was able to take advantage of the improved position in the running order.

By day’s end, however, Fenhaus, who a season ago claimed one ARCA Menards Series win at Iowa Speedway and a second place at Lucas Oil Raceway Park, found himself in the top 10. 

“We had a good day,” Fenhaus said. “I got stalled earlier in traffic, but a great call by Josh Hankish to leave us out there and get a late caution, that’s kind of what saved our day. We got a lucky break with the late caution. That helped us a lot with track position, because track position was everything. It was really tough to pass back there.”

As for Perez, he carried over this season’s ARCA success of a recent third-place finish and pole position at Charlotte Motor Speedway to finish ninth on a solid day that was also a learning experience in the Spire Motorsports entry.  

“I’m happy about how things went,” Perez said. It’s tough competition out there, you have to create runs, so there’s a lot of learning. We wanted a solid result and everything to work in our favor, and it did. Everybody at Spire did a great job. I learned so much through the run, it was a good learning day and when you have a good result, it makes it so much better.”