Austin Theriault: ACT Late Model Tour
New Hampshire Motor Speedway Race Preview
THE STORY
Austin Theriault of Fort Kent, Maine, heads to the first ACT Late Model Tour points race ever held at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the ACT All-Star Challenge on Friday and Saturday, August 12-13. The race will be run in two segments, one 25-lap segment and one 50-lap segment. Theriault, who sits tied for seventh in the ACT standings, will make his 2011 Tour debut with his family-owned team fresh off a season-best fifth-place finish at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway last time out. Theriault competed at New Hampshire as a rookie last season, one of just three dozen drivers invited to compete in an ACT-sanctioned invitational at the track in September.
THE FACTS
WHO: Austin Theriault, Fort Kent, Maine
TEAM: No. 57 Varney Insurance Ford
CREW CHIEF: Mickey Green, West Paris, Maine
BEST CAREER NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY FINISH: 30th
LAST RACE AT NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY: 30th
WHAT: ACT Late Model Tour All-Star Challenge
WHERE: New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon, N.H. (1.058-mile oval)
WHEN: Qualifying – 10:25 a.m., Friday, August 12; Race – Segment 1: 10:30 a.m., Saturday, August 13; Race – Segment 2: 6:15 p.m., Saturday, August 13
ACT LATE MODEL TOUR
LAST RACE: July 30, Casco Bay Ford 150, Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, Scarborough, Maine (5th)
NEXT RACE: August 20, ACT 150, Oxford Plains Speedway, Oxford, Maine (.375-mile oval)
POINTS POSITION: 7th
DID YOU KNOW?
Austin Theriault became the youngest podium finisher in the 38-year history of the TD Bank Oxford 250 when he finished third in the event last month.
Austin Theriault will run his first ACT race for his family-operated team since the 2010 season finale.
The team has enlisted the help of noted regional crew chief Seth Holbrook of Turner, Maine, this weekend at New Hampshire. Holbrook prepared the Oxford 250-winning car of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kyle Busch last month.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
AUSTIN THERIAULT, Driver of the No. 57 Varney Insurance Ford, on his return to New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend: “It definitely drives different than any other track. No matter what car you’re in, you have to appraoch this kind of track differently. Loudon – I wouldn’t call it a crap-shoot – but there’s a lot more variables there than in regular short-track racing.
“The thing we learned last year is that it’s really important to have a car you’re able to pass with. You can be faster than a guy in front of you, but you can also have a really hard time passing because of the ACT cars and the way they drive at Loudon.”
On his team’s goals for this weekend: “Obviously, the goal is to run better than you did the previous year – at any track you go to. Hopefully, we’ll go in there and have a shot at a Top-10. I’m pretty confident in guys we have coming to help out this year.
“Just like we talked about at the beginning of the year, we’ve made some changes again and we’re going forward. But we’ll continue to work hard and work with the people around us that have supported us since the beginning of my racing career.”
On how important this weekend is for his team: “I think this will be the balancing point for the rest of our season. Having Seth (Holbrook) come in, he brings a lot of experience, and he’s worked with a lot of guys and had some success. (Crew chief Mickey Green) and I, we’re definitely going to bounce some ideas off of him.
“I think Seth can target the points where we need to improve, and we can really build on that for the second half of the year.”
On how things change at New Hampshire with this being an ACT points race for the first time: ”It does up the pressure a lot. There’s going to be a lot more guys there. Just the qualifying alone is going to be a blast for the fans to watch, but from a driver’s point of view, it’s going to be pretty hairy. Heat races at Loudon? We’ll have to see how that works out.
“That’s not to say there won’t be people who will be mad at each other – I hope it doesn’t come to that, but that’s how it is. It’s a really fast track where a lot of guys like myself haven’t raced a whole lot, so it should be exciting.”
UP NEXT
The ACT Late Model Tour heads back to Oxford Plains Speedway in Oxford, Maine, for the ACT 150 on Saturday, August 20… Austin Theriault finished third in the non-ACT TD Bank Oxford 250 at the track in July.