Southern Super Series: Austin Theriault
Montgomery Motor Speedway Race Preview
THE STORY
FORT KENT, Maine – Austin Theriault of Fort Kent, Maine, rejoins the Southern Super Series as it heads to the 49th annual Alabama 200 at Montgomery Motor Speedway in Montgomery, Ala., on Saturday, August 24. Theriault has never visited the semi-banked half-mile oval, but the Brad Keselowski Racing development driver has made three Southern Super Series starts this season and has yet to finish outside the Top-10 in any of them. In his most recent start in the BKR No. 29 Checkered Flag Foundation Ford Fusion, Theriault finished fifth in the prestigious World Crown 300 at Gresham Motorsports Park in Jefferson, Ga., earlier this month. Theriault has posted four consecutive Top-5 finishes in his starts for BKR heading into Montgomery, and in his last 10 races this season with the team he has six Top-5s and 10 Top-10s.
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 MONTGOMERY MOTOR SPEEDWAY FINISH: N/A
LAST RACE AT MONTGOMERY MOTOR SPEEDWAY: N/A
WHAT: Southern Super Series 49th annual Alabama 200
WHERE: Montgomery Motor Speedway, Montgomery, Ala. (.500-mile semi-banked oval)
WHEN: Friday, August 23 – 5 p.m., practice; Saturday, August 24 – 12:15 p.m., practice; 5:30 p.m., qualifying; 8 p.m., race.
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. He followed that with a win at Southern National Motorsports Park in June.
Austin Theriault has Top-10 finishes in nine of the last 10 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 finished fifth in the World Crown 300 two weeks ago, and he will complete the “Grand Slam” of Super Late Model racing with starts in the Snowball Derby, All-American 400 and Winchester 400 later this season.
Austin Theriault has four consecutive Top-5 finishes with Brad Keselowski Racing heading into this weekend.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
AUSTIN THERIAULT, Driver of the Brad Keselowski Racing No. 29 Checkered Flag Foundation Ford Fusion, On finding success this season at tracks he’s visiting for the first time in his career: “I think it’s really important for anybody – for all drivers and teams – to be able to adapt quickly. Whether it’s a new track or something changes at a track you’ve raced at your whole life, you have to be able to go in and make decisions quickly.
“For me, it’s good to be able to rely on (crew chief Gary Crooks) or whoever I’m working with. That’s always huge, and it will be this weekend, too. They have notes, and they know what helped them or what made them go faster. As a driver, I can rely on Gary somewhat to tell me what I’m doing right or what I’m doing wrong in that department.”
On the No. 29 team’s flat-track program this season: “I think we’re pretty decent. We were good at Berlin, but (Johnny) Van Doorn was a little bit quicker. The more time we have on that type of race track, the better we’ll be on it. I think it definitely helps that I have some experience at flat race tracks.
“It’s important to get the car turning in the center and carry a lot of speed off the corners. You really have to try not to get tight on the gas too soon.”
On his recent string of Top-5 finishes: “I think having confidence is important, no matter what you’re doing. Having good runs like we’ve had always builds that confidence, and that’s some of what we’re dealing with right now. The more times you go to the track and run good and practice goes good and you have a good race, it’s more of a confidence builder. That’s more of what we’re feeding on as a team right now.
“We know there’s going to be things going on during the races that we can’t control, and we’ve seen some of that. But things like that can’t take a lot away from how good the cars have been. Once again, this is a good opportunity for our race team.”
UP NEXT
Austin Theriault returns to historic Winchester Speedway in Winchester, Ind., for a 100-lap CRA Series event on Sunday, September 1… Theriault will use the event to get ready for the prestigious Winchester 400 at the high-banked half-mile track in October.