MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Feb. 25, 2025) – Donovan Strauss has accomplished a lot in a short period of time, yet the 19-year-old Philadelphia native is just getting started. In only four years, Strauss has advanced from sim racing and winning in the virtual world to driving pavement-pounding Late Model stock cars and chasing checkered flags in the real world.

In 2025, Strauss will campaign the full zMAX CARS Tour schedule with Hettinger Racing. The 15-race season kicks off this Saturday at New River All American Speedway in Jacksonville, North Carolina.

“The CARS Tour is the pinnacle of Late Model racing and it’s where I want to be. The racing is tough and the drivers are aggressive. If you can succeed on the CARS Tour, you’ve truly earned that success. I’m looking forward to putting in the effort and fulfilling all the potential that’s here at Hettinger Racing,” Strauss said.

For his debut with Hettinger Racing, Strauss will drive the No. 4 Liberty In a Can™ Chevrolet.

“Liberty In a Can is America’s THC seltzer out of Chattanooga, Tennessee, and they’ve been a partner of mine since the middle of last season. They’re thrilled about this opportunity because it allows us to grow together,” Strauss said. “Liberty In a Can is a strong supporter of the grassroots motorsports community and they’ll leverage this partnership to connect with passionate race fans across the Southeast. It’s a great way for both of us to earn some really good results.”

Strauss’ racing career began at age 14 via iRacing, a global racing simulation game. Virtual success made Strauss want to pursue tangible racing success, so he began driving Bandoleros in 2020 after a move to Marietta, Georgia. Competing in more than 25 races across Atlanta Motor Speedway, Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway and Cordele (Ga.) Motor Speedway, Strauss finished second in the national standings.

After only a year in Bandoleros, Strauss quickly grabbed the next rung on the racing ladder, stepping up to Legend Cars. From 2021 through 2023, he won track titles at Atlanta, Cordele and Lanier Raceway in Braselton, Georgia, securing the INEX Pro National Championship in 2023 with an impressive 18 victories.

By 2024, the time was right to move up to full-bodied stock cars. Strauss was all in, relocating to stock-car racing’s heartland, Mooresville, North Carolina. Once again, he made the most of his time, winning the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series South Carolina Rookie-of-the-Year title thanks to a breakout victory Aug. 17 at Florence (S.C.) Motor Speedway. It was one of 12 top-five finishes in his 14 races at Florence, a schedule that was augmented by select CARS Tour events.

With 2025 bringing a full CARS Tour schedule to Strauss’ plate, he remains committed to the platform that sparked his racing career. This year will mark Strauss’ fourth consecutive season with Williams Esports, the gaming arm of Atlassian Williams Racing, the venerable F1 team founded by Sir Frank Williams. Strauss competes for the team in the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series and he helped Williams Esports claim the 2024 team championship.

“Sim racing is how I got started. It’s what taught me the fundamentals of racing and how to prepare for a race. It’s a great platform that allows you to learn from the data that’s provided and then apply it to what you’re doing,” Strauss said. “That’s what everyone is doing in all forms of motorsports today and, for me, it’s just a natural part of my preparation. It’s something I can maximize, especially when it comes to competing at tracks that I haven’t been to yet.”

The CARS Tour is widely considered the nation’s premier Late Model touring series. The experience garnered on the short tracks of the CARS Tour allows drivers to make the next jump to ARCA, where they tackle superspeedways, road courses and dirt tracks in stock cars that once raced in the NASCAR Cup Series. That background serves as preparation for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, which features a stock car chassis with a pickup truck body. It is NASCAR’s third-highest division, behind only the NASCAR Xfinity Series and the NASCAR Cup Series. Every current NASCAR Cup Series driver has matriculated through the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

Hettinger Racing serves as a one-stop shop for drivers looking to compete in these stepping-stone divisions and advance to the NASCAR Xfinity Series and, ultimately, the top-tier NASCAR Cup Series.

“Our goal is to provide a consistent environment for drivers to gain experience, learn race craft, and effectively communicate to their crew about what their car is doing so they can maximize their track time,” said Chris Hettinger, a longtime and winning Late Model team owner from Dryden, Michigan, who began his racing career in the driver’s seat, earning victories in Midgets and Late Models before becoming a fulltime team owner. “Donovan has already proven to be an incredibly quick study. He’s got natural talent, and this is a place where he can really excel. We’re proud to have him as a part of our team.”

Strauss and his Hettinger Racing teammate, Aaron Donnelly, will take to New River All American Speedway on Thursday for an open test. A second test session greets CARS Tour drivers from 2-6 p.m. EST on Friday. Saturday’s docket begins with practice at 10:30 a.m. and qualifying at 4 p.m. The 125-lap feature race goes green at 8:30 p.m. with live coverage by FloRacing.