OXFORD, Maine – Austin Theriault of Fort Kent, Maine, won his first career Super Late Model race on Saturday evening, leading the final 110 laps at Oxford Plains Speedway to win the PASS North Series 150 in just his second career start.
Theriault, the Brad Keselowski Racing development driver, started third in the 32-car field and led on two different occasions. He has made several Super Late Model starts in other series across the country this season, but this was only his first PASS start since finishing sixth at Seekonk Speedway in August.
“I really didn’t know what to expect,” said Theriault, 18, who was running his familiar family-owned No. 57. “We threw a lot at this car today, and we were really working hard this week to get it ready for this PASS race. I was looking for maybe a Top-10 finish. I didn’t think we’d run as good as we did.”
Theriault had to hold off multi-time PASS winner DJ Shaw over several restarts across the final third of the race. The last one came with four laps remaining, but Theriault cleared Shaw after two laps to win by more than two car-lengths at the checkered flag.
“Those last restarts were pretty hairy,” Theriault said. “It just goes to show how good this team is. It was quite a race. I had a lot of fun – a lot of side-by-side racing. I’m just glad to be here (in Victory Lane).”
Rain dominated the morning at the track, limiting teams to just two 10-minute practice sessions. For a new team that had spent several late nights at the shop during the week converting the same car that they drove to a third-place finish in the final ACT Late Model Tour standings this season, it was just another obstacle on the road to Victory Lane Saturday.
The No. 57 Pelletier Ford Ford Fusion crew threw several changes at the car following final practice to get ready in time for qualifying.
“It seemed to go pretty well. I think (Oxford Plains) has a pretty good package going into next year,” Theriault said.
The win was Theriault’s third of 2012, including an ACT win at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway and a victory at Spud Speedway in September. Theriault also finished third in the TD Bank Oxford 250 earlier this summer at Oxford Plains.
“I’ve got to thank (crew chief) Mickey Green, Pelletier Ford, Crazy Horse Racing and Mulkern Racing for everything,” Theriault said. “Thanks to everybody who helped make this happen.”