Austin Theriault: Maine Racing Alliance
Spud 150 Race Preview
Austin Theriault of Fort Kent, Maine, returns home this weekend to the track where it all started for him as he competes in the Maine Racing Alliance’s Spud 150 at Spud Speedway in Caribou, Maine, on Saturday, September 25. Theriault, 16, gained regional attention for the first time in this race last year — winning the first Late Model race of his career on the track where he began racing in a 4-cylinder entry-level division. The race will be divided into two segments with a “halftime” break and a field inversion. Theriault is currently the Rookie of the Year leader on the ACT Late Model Tour, where he competes full-time and sits eighth in the overall standings with one race remaining. The Maine Racing Alliance is a 3-race Late Model series held at Speedway 95, Wiscasset Raceway and Spud Speedway. This is Theriault’s first Maine Racing Alliance event of the season.
WHO: Austin Theriault, Fort Kent, Maine
TEAM: No. 57 Varney Insurance Ford Fusion
BEST CAREER SPUD 150 FINISH: 1st (August 2009)
LAST RACE SPUD 150 FINISH: 1st (August 2009)
WHAT: 2nd annual Spud 150
WHERE: Spud Speedway, Caribou, Maine (.333-mile oval)
WHEN: 4 p.m., Saturday, September 25
ACT Late Model Tour
LAST RACE: Saturday, September 18, ACT Invitational, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon, N.H. (30th-place finish)
NEXT RACE: October 2-3, Milk Bowl, Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl, Barre, Vt. (.250-mile oval)
POINTS POSITION: 8th
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AUSTIN, ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO RACING ON YOUR HOME TURF?
Definitely. It’s really cool to go back to my home track and see all the people who have supported me up until where we are now. And, of course, it would be nice to go there and finally get a win this year.
This is the kind of race that we can use as something to kind of boost our confidence as a team going into the Milk Bowl (at Thunder Road) and the final ACT points race (at Waterford Speedbowl). It’s something to unite us again as a whole crew, because — to be honest — the results the past couple of races haven’t really shown what we can do as far as finishing.
WHAT’S THE SECRET TO GETTING AROUND SPUD SPEEDWAY?
To be honest, I’ve been to so many other tracks this year, I think I’ve forgotten how to drive it. There’s many different kinds of tracks in Spud — it’s kind of flat, it’s narrow. The track is kind of like Oxford, Beech Ridge, Speedway 95 all together. It’s kind of like a whole mix of tracks in Maine.
HOW IMPORTANT IS THIS WEEKEND TO YOU ON A PERSONAL NOTE?
It’s important that when we do have the time to support my home track. There’s been times this year I wished I could have been there racing, but the schedule just didn’t permit it with all the travel for the ACT Tour.
To the average fan, it probably looks like I’m ignoring the track, and I don’t want people to think that at all. Nothing could be further from the truth — but I’m trying to work my way up the ladder and don’t always have the time. But when there’s time, we want to go and support it.