Austin Theriault: ACT Late Model Tour
Milk Bowl Race Preview
Austin Theriault of Fort Kent, Maine, plans to make his debut in one of the northeast’s most unique events when he heads to the 48th annual Milk Bowl at Thunder Road International Speedbowl in Barre, Vt., on Saturday and Sunday, October 2-3. Theriault, the ACT Late Model Tour Rookie of the Year leader with one points race remaining, has never competed in the Milk Bowl — though he did finish an impressive seventh his Thunder Road debut back in June of this season. He’s coming off a seventh-place finish in the Spud 150 at his home track of Spud Speedway in Caribou, Maine, last weekend — after leading most of the event before a flat right front tire ended his bid for victory less than 50 laps from the finish.
WHO: Austin Theriault, Fort Kent, Maine
TEAM: No. 57 Varney Insurance Ford Fusion
BEST CAREER THUNDER ROAD FINISH: 7th (June 2010)
LAST RACE MILK BOWL FINISH: N/A
WHAT: 48th annual People’s United Bank Milk Bowl
WHERE: Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl (.250-mile oval)
FORMAT: Time Trials for heat racing starting position; 50-lap heat race to determine lineup for Milk Bowl’s 1st segment; Milk Bowl 3 segments — 50 laps, 75 laps following inversion, 75 laps following inversion.
WHEN: Qualifying: 1 p.m., Saturday, October 2; Race: 1 p.m., Sunday, October 3
ACT Late Model Tour
LAST RACE: September 18, 2nd annual ACT Invitational, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon, N.H. (30th place)
NEXT RACE: October 10, ACT 150, Waterford Speedbowl, Waterford, Conn. (.333-mile oval)
POINTS POSITION: 8th
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AUSTIN, ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO YOUR FIRST MILK BOWL?
I am. Being the Milk Bowl, it’s a really prestigious event race and everyone goes and tries just to qualify for it. I don’t really know how to approach it because it’s so different from what we usually do, it will kind of depend on how lucky we are. Everyone knows you can have a really good day at Thunder Road, or you can have a really bad one.
Being that it’s a non-points race, I look at this as a great chance to get back to the track and continue to get accustomed to it. I still consider myself a novice at Thunder Road.
YOU’VE NEVER PARTICIPATED IN TIME TRIALS BEFORE.
I haven’t, but I think it will be a good experience. I think that we’ve kind of turned a corner as a team, even though we’re not quite where we want to be. But as far as qualifying goes, I think it will be good for me with a completely open track without other cars during time trials.
It just gives you a chance to put down the best possible lap you can. I’ll approach some of the other guys at the track and ask them what they do, maybe find out what to expect from my first lap to my second one.
AFTER A REALLY STRONG SUMMER RUN, SEPTEMBER WASN’T THAT KIND TO YOUR TEAM. WHERE IS THE NO. 57 AT?
I still think we have a lot of room for improvement. I feel like we hit another little bump in the road, where we just haven’t been getting the finishes we deserve. It’s not really the fault of the team — I mean, we had flat tires at Airborne and at Spud, and we started so deep in the field at Loudon — but I still think we can improve while getting better finishes.
The competition has picked up. The end of the season is so close now, no one is giving up an inch. Everyone’s racing hard to the finish, and that’s what we’re going to do, too.