AT Racing: ACT Late Model Tour
Austin Theriault Sanair Speedway Race Report
Austin Theriault of Fort Kent, Maine, finished third in the rain-delayed ACT 100 at Sanair Super Speedway in Saint Påie, Quebec, on Sunday, August 12. After completing the first seven laps Saturday night, the race was resumed on Sunday afternoon on the .875-mile triangle – with Theriault being sent to the rear of the field after ACT officials had questions about his right rear tire. With just one caution flag over the final 93 laps, Theriault rolled all the way from 37th to third and was within striking distance of the leaders for the win off the race’s final corner. It was the seventh Top-10 finish in as many starts this season for Theriault, who also has six Top-5 finishes in seven ACT races in 2012.
WHO: Austin Theriault, Fort Kent, Maine
TEAM: AT Racing No. 57 Pelletier Ford Ford Fusion
CREW CHIEF: Mickey Green, South Paris, Maine
WHAT: ACT Late Model Tour 100
WHERE: Sanair Super Speedway, Saint Pie, Quebec (.875-mile triangle)
STARTED: 8th
FINISHED: 3rd
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AUSTIN, WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE RIGHT REAR TIRE?
They came to us while we were in the lineup and said we had the wrong tire on the car, so we had to put on a practice tire with 70 laps on it already. There was a discrepancy between what we had in our records and what ACT had on their records.
Even though we didn’t agree, we had to change gears and refocus on running the race as good as we could from the back. For a while, the focus went from trying to win the race to trying to save all the points we could and get a Top-10 finish.
DID YOU HAVE A CAR CAPABLE OF WINNING?
I had a little bit of business to finish. I knew we were capable of running back up front – and I just wanted to prove a point that we could run up front, no matter what. We set off on a mission. From Lap 8, we were just trying to work slower traffic and lapped traffic – and just do it as quick as we could without going three-wide and messing things up.
I feel like we lost our chance to win the race, because we were following cars side-by-side for four laps at a time. Those laps add up when you’re off the last corner on the leaders’ bumpers. With only one caution, it’s hard to make up all that ground. One more lap, I think we would have had them.
DID THE TRACK CHANGE FROM SATURDAY NIGHT TO SUNDAY MORNING?
We were faster in practice on Sunday morning than we had been the day before. It didn’t seem like the track changed, but something came to us Sunday morning. We hit on a couple things before the race on Saturday, and I don’t know if we would have won (Saturday night), but we had a definite Top-5 car.