Mulkern Racing: PASS North Series
Austin Theriault Seekonk Speedway Race Report
SEEKONK, Mass. – Brad Keselowski Racing development driver Austin Theriault of Fort Kent, Maine, finished sixth in the PASS North Series 150 at Seekonk Speedway in his debut with Mulkern Racing on Saturday, August 4. Theriault was running in the Top-3 at Lap 100 when he lost power steering in the No. 18 Southern Maine Motors/Community Pharmacies Chevrolet for the final third of the event. Theriault, 18, rallied on the short, rough race track to finish in the Top-10 in his first PASS North Series event since 2010.
WHO: Austin Theriault, Fort Kent, Maine
TEAM: Mulkern Racing No. 18 Southern Maine Motors/Community Pharmacies Chevrolet
CREW CHIEF: Seth Holbrook, Turner, Maine
WHAT: PASS North Series 150
WHERE: Seekonk Speedway, Seekonk, Mass. (.333-mile oval)
STARTED: 5th
FINISHED: 6th
******
AUSTIN, WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE POWER STEERING?
We ran in the Top-3 for first part of the race. I was just trying to save up my stuff for the end, which worked out pretty good. I thought we’d have a good shot at it.
On Lap 100, Seth (Holbrook) came on the radio and said he saw oil or something coming out of the car. Almost immediately, the wheel got really hard to turn on me. We lost power steering that lap. Total loss, completely. That really ruined our hopes for running for a win. I held in there and brought it home in the Top-10. We did the best we could. It’s not something you look forward to, but you just do what you can with it.
OTHER THAN THE RESULT, WAS IT A POSITIVE DEBUT WITH MULKERN RACING?
It was. We had a great car, and Seth did a good job. I think (owners) Scott and Vickie (Mulkern) were pretty happy overall. We didn’t quite get the results we expected, because we just didn’t get to show how good we were at the end.
I was manhandling the car, and it wasn’t very pretty. We got passed on a couple of restarts, and we managed to pass a couple of cars back. A sixth-place finish isn’t that bad on a bumpy bullring without any power steering.