Donovan Strauss may be heading into Martinsville as a rookie, but he is approaching this weekend with one goal: to win.
Strauss made a name for himself on the sim racing scene, running in the eNASCAR iRacing Series. However, he was also racing Bandalaros and then Legends cars during that time, even winning the INEX Pro National Championship in 2023.
Last year, he competed full-time in the NASCAR Weekly Series with AK Performance and made his CARS Tour debut at Florence, as well as running the South Carolina 400. This year, he partnered with Hettinger Racing to compete full-time in the CARS Tour.
For Martinsville, Strauss has got back with Kendall Sellers and AK Performance. Even though this is his first time at the 1/2 mile track, he feels good about his chances.
“I feel ready for the moment,” Strauss said. “I’ve run the CARS Tour this whole year and it’s really taught me how to be around the best of the best. I don’t feel like there’s any reason I can;t go run well at Martinsville. I feel ready. If you would have asked me this last year I would have said ‘I don’t think so,’ but I’m ready to be here and put on a good show.”
While he is with a different team than he has been with all season, Strauss’ relationship with Sellers and the team is still good and he feels as ready as ever.
“I have a really good relationship with Kendall,” Strauss said. “We’ve built a strong foundation over the last year. We talk on the phone all the time. We didn’t get to do this race last year together, so it feels good to have the opportunity to do that this year.
“Obviously I’m so committed to my Hettinger Racing team on the CARS Tour side for the rest of the year, but it’s good to have the opportunity to do it with Kendall this year. Hopefully we can make up for what we didn’t get to do last year.”
Since most of the tracks Strauss has raced at this year have been new to him, he has been picking the brains of other drivers to learn as much as he can. This weekend is no different.
“Kaden Honeycutt mentors me a lot,” Strauss said. “So I’ve been talking to him. I have a couple of other guys who have helped me out. Jared Fryer has helped me. Every track I’ve gone to this year has been a new track for me basically. Showing up to a new place isn’t new for me and it doesn’t scare me. It’s just another new race track. Same mentality, same goal.”
Martinsville is unique from the other Late Model Stock crown jewels with how the format to make the race is. Four 25-lap heat races set the starting lineup, with the top ten in each heat making the field. No locked in spots, no provisionals, no last chance qualifiers. Strauss feels good heading into tomorrow despite the high stakes.
“Obviously you want to qualify good and start pretty high up in the heat races to not worry about transferring [in],” Strauss said. “I would say my goal is to qualify [well]. Obviously you want to qualify on the pole, but there’s 77 cars here and all of them are pretty stout. I just hope we can qualify respectfully and set us up for the heat race.”
Even though he is a rookie at Martinsville, Strauss is focused on taking home a grandfather clock in his debut.
“I’m trying to go win,” Strauss said. “That’s my goal every time I show up. I’m going to put in the effort to try and win. It’s no different this race being with Kendall and AK Performance. We’re going to show up and try to win.
“That’s what everybody is here to do. That’s why we come here. We want to get that grandfather clock.”
