Southern Super Series: Austin Theriault
Five Flags Speedway Race Preview
THE STORY
Austin Theriault of Fort Kent, Maine, returns to the Southern Super Series for a key late-season event with the Buddy’s Home Furnishings 125 at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Fla., on Friday, September 20. The race is one of the final long-distance tuneups for December’s prestigious Snowball Derby at Five Flags, and it’s a track where Theriault has had some success in the past. The Brad Keselowski Racing development driver finished fifth at Five Flags in May of 2012, and he enters the race off a win in his family-owned Super Late Model in the Southern Maine Chrysler Dodge Jeep 300 at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Maine, last weekend for his third win of the 2013 campaign. He qualified for his first Snowball Derby last season, and he finished fourth in the Snowflake 100 the night before the Snowball Derby as part of a double-duty weekend.
THE FACTS
WHO: Austin Theriault, Fort Kent, Maine
TEAM: Brad Keselowski Racing No. 29 Checkered Flag Foundation Ford Fusion
BEST CAREER FIVE FLAGS SPEEDWAY FINISH: 5th (May 2012)
LAST RACE AT FIVE FLAGS SPEEDWAY: 20th (December 2012)
WHAT: Southern Super Series Buddy’s Home Furnishings 125
WHERE: Five Flags Speedway, Pensacola, Fla. (.500-mile flat oval)
WHEN: Friday, September 20 – 3:45 p.m., practice; 6:45 p.m., qualifying; 9 p.m., race
Southern Super Series
LAST RACE: August 24, Alabama 200, Montgomery Motor Speedway, Montgomery, Ala. (6th)
NEXT RACE: November 2, All-American 400, Fairgrounds Speedway, Nashville, Tenn. (.596-mile oval)
DID YOU KNOW?
Austin Theriault has PASS South Series wins this season at Dillon Motor Speedway in Dillon, S.C., and Southern National Motorsports Park in Kenly, N.C., while driving for Brad Keselowski Racing.
Austin Theriault has four career PASS-sanctioned victories, including a win in the Southern Maine Chrysler Dodge Jeep 300 – the longest race on the PASS North Series schedule.
Austin Theriault sits 19th in the Southern Super Series standings, despite having only appeared in four of the 11 races thus far on the series schedule.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
AUSTIN THERIAULT, Driver of the AT Racing No. 57 Pelletier Ford Ford Fusion, On racing at Five Flags Speedway: “It’s all about getting off the corners there. There’s some grip at the track, but it’s all about being able to use the horsepower. There’s not a whole lot of bite, and you’ve got to do what you can to use it.
“The person who is able to do that best is going to be the one that hits it on Friday night.”
On using races as a tune-up for ‘bigger’ races down the road: “I don’t read a whole lot into going to a race track to prepare for a bigger race. There’s definitely things you can learn, but as a driver, it’s my goal to try and relay as much information as I can to give us a chance to win – whether it’s the Winchester 400 or a 100-lap race before that.
“I try to win and try to race up front.”
On how he approaches shorter races: “There’s less time to make sure you can execute what you need to do in the race. There’s less chance to recover if there is an issue early on. It’s probably more important to keep your track position and qualify up front. Everybody’s going to be going hard right from the start.”
On his impressions of the Southern Super Series in its inaugural season: “We’ve been trying to work on our CRA and Southern Super Series program, because there’s definitely some tough competition in that neck of the woods. It feels like we come away from the weekend learning some more. We made some more improvements (at Montgomery) – incremental improvements – but there’s still more we have to gain to lead tons of laps and win in those bigger races.”