Laser shock peening (LSP) is a promising technique to systematically introduce local compressive residual stresses in metal sheets, inhibiting fatigue cracks in these areas. We model fatigue crack growth in these specimen with the help of a phase‐field model for fatigue fracture [1]. First, we parametrise the model using untreated aluminium specimens. In a second step, we use the determined parameters to simulate residual‐stress‐afflicted specimens, qualitatively reproducing the crack inhibition due to LSP.