Donovan Strauss
Car: No. 98 | Team: AK Performance | Manufacturer: Toyota | Status: Full-time CARS Tour LMSC | Hometown: Philadelphia, PA | Age: 20
Career Highlights
Donovan Strauss represents one of the most unconventional paths to the 2026 CARS Tour Late Model Stock Car grid. The 20-year-old from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, drives the No. 98 Toyota for AK Performance — a return to the team where he started his Late Model career after a season with Hettinger Racing.
Strauss's racing career began not on asphalt but in the virtual world. He started competitive racing at age 14 on iRacing, eventually competing in the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series for Williams Esports, where he also served as a brand ambassador. The sim-to-real transition has become an increasingly recognized pathway in motorsport, and Strauss is one of its most visible examples on the short-track scene.
He progressed through Bandoleros (finishing second in the 2020 national standings) and Legends cars, winning the INEX Pro National Championship in 2023. In 2024, he moved to Late Models and earned the South Carolina NASCAR Weekly Series Rookie of the Year award — building real-world credibility to complement his sim racing pedigree.
For 2025, Strauss joined Hettinger Racing for a full-time CARS Tour LMSC campaign, finishing ninth in the championship standings with 18 starts — a strong rookie-class result. He was originally slated to move to Tom Usry Racing for 2026 but returned to AK Performance, the team he considers home.
As a first-generation racer from outside the traditional Southeast short-track pipeline, Strauss brings a different background and a growing audience to the CARS Tour.