Southern Super Series: Austin Theriault
Gresham Motorsports Park Race Preview
THE STORY
FORT KENT, Maine – Austin Theriault of Fort Kent, Maine, returns to the seat of the Brad Keselowski Racing Super Late Model team this weekend for the Southern Super Series Racing Radios 125 at Gresham Motorsports Park in Jefferson, Ga., on Saturday, April 27. Theriault sits seventh in the Southern Super Series standings after a Top-10 finish in the series’ inaugural event at Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville earlier this month, and he’ll be making his third career appearance at Gresham Motorsports Park in the BKR No. 29 Checkered Flag Foundation Ford Fusion. Theriault finished fourth in the World Crown 300 – one of the four events nationally-recognized as part of Super Late Model racing’s “Grand Slam” – on the high-banked half-mile last July.
THE FACTS
WHO: Austin Theriault, Fort Kent, Maine
TEAM: Brad Keselowski Racing No. 29 Checkered Flag Foundation Ford Fusion
CREW CHIEF: Gary Crooks, Mooresville, N.C.
BEST CAREER GRESHAM MOTORSPORTS PARK FINISH: 4th (July 2012)
LAST RACE AT GRESHAM MOTORSPORTS PARK: 4th (July 2012)
WHAT: Southern Super Series Racing Radios 125
WHERE: Gresham Motorsports Park, Jefferson, Ga. (.500-mile banked oval)
WHEN: Saturday, April 27 – 11:30 a.m., practice; 5:30 p.m., qualifying; 8:30 p.m., race
Southern Super Series
LAST RACE: April 6, Southern Super Series 125, Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville, Nashville, Tenn. (9th)
NEXT RACE: May 4, Southern Super Series 125, Montgomery Speedway, Montgomery, Ala (.500-mile semi-banked oval)
CURRENT POINTS POSITION: 7th
DID YOU KNOW?
Austin Theriault won the PASS South Series South Carolina Clash 150 at Dillon Motor Speedway on March 9 to become the first Brad Keselowski Racing development program driver to win a race since Landon Cling won at South Boston Speedway on June 9, 2012.
Austin Theriault hasn’t finished outside the Top-10 in each of the last five PASS-sanctioned Super Late Model races he’s entered. Prior to the South Carolina Clash 150 win, he was victorious in a family-owned car in the PASS North Series season finale at Oxford Plains Speedway in October of 2012.
Austin Theriault added the Racing Radios 125 at Gresham Motorsports Park to his schedule in order to get more track time in advance of the prestigious World Crown 300 at the facility on July 4. Along with the Snowball Derby, All-American 400 and Winchester 400, the World Crown 300 is part of the “Grand Slam” of Super Late Model racing.
Austin Theriault made his first PASS North Series start of the season last weekend at Oxford Plains Speedway and finished ninth in a family-owned car. He will return to the PASS North Series on May 4 for a 150-lap event at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
AUSTIN THERIAULT, Driver of the Brad Keselowski Racing No. 29 Checkered Flag Foundation Ford Fusion, On returning to Gresham Motorsports Park this weekend: “We’ve struggled a little bit there in the past, but our main focus is going to be trying to find speed. In the past, that’s where we were lacking – just being able to find speed in the car. It’s important to be able to carry speed through the center of the corner. Because it has a whole bunch of grip and there’s so much banking, it you really have to be able to get through those turns quickly.
“It’s a really fast track, and there’s a lot of grip. I’m looking forward to getting back there with the BKR team. We’ve had some good runs lately, and we’re looking to kind of rebound after some of our struggles at Nashville (on April 6). It’s going to be at the same tire we were on at Nashville, so hopefully we can figure that out and use that race as a test for the World Crown 300 coming up. It’s one of the bigger races of the year.”
On how he balances trying to win with trying to prepare for a prestigious race later in the season at the same track: “You go to every race with the intention to win, but sometimes you have to balance risk and reward. It’s probably best to risk more in a race where there’s not as much on the line. If something’s not going to work, it’s better to find out earlier than later when there is more on the line.”
On whether the team is at a point where he feels it’s capable of winning every week: “Yeah, I think we got to that point early on in the year and we haven’t looked back. We’ve fought through a lot that last year would have been a struggle to fight through. That’s what makes a winning team – being able fight through the difficult parts of what comes with racing.”
UP NEXT
Austin Theriault heads back to Maine to join the PASS North Series for the Southern Maine Chrysler Dodge Jeep 150 at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Maine, on Saturday, May 4… Theriault has never made a PASS North Series start at Beech Ridge, though he did collect his first career ACT Late Model Tour victory at the track in July of 2012.