Long Haul Driver Ready For First All American 400
Maine Driver Ready for SSS Finale
Austin Theriault heads to the All American 400 at Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville (TN) with an opportunity make a bigger splash in the Super Late Model world. The Fort Kent, Maine native now calls North Carolina home and he also has found a home racing on the short tracks all around the county.
Just last week Theriault was third at the Florida Governor's Cup 200 at New Smyrna Speedway. He also won at 300-lap race for Super Late Models back home in the state of Maine at Beech Ridge. To say the least, he's good at the bigger events.
Theriault is now heading to Nashville for the Southern Super Series presented by Sunoco finale at the Fairgrounds Speedway in Nashville, Tennessee.
"It will be my first All American 400, I am looking forward to that," said Theriault. "I have heard a lot about that race and I know there is going to be a lot of good competition. Some of the best short track racers in the country are going to be there. We struggled there in the spring and we have made some gains since there. We still have some work to do, but we know the equipment's fast and we just have to put a race together and that would be a great win."
Theriault said he struggled in the spring, but a ninth-place finish against a strong Southern Super Series field in his Nashville debut is not bad. Still, the driver always expects more. Theriault has won several times this season including a pair of Super Late Model races in the Southeast and always wants to end the race with a checkered flag in hand.
"We learned what not to do," said Theriault on Nashville in April. "We are going to take the notebook and do the opposite. We took two cars there in the spring and when struggle then you know what not to do. Over the summer we have made some gains that we can carry over to that racetrack. It's a long race and you have to keep it together, all kinds of stuff can happen. We have to work on being around at the end."
When asked about his possibilities of winning the race, Theriault was quick to point out how tough the rest of the field will be with drivers coming from all points on the map.
"It would mean a lot, said Theriault. "No Maine driver has even won it down there. Trying to represent the northeast and we'll see what we can do. I don't want to set the bar too high, but we know we have a chance of doing it."
Practice gets underway on Friday, November 1st with qualifying and racing taking place on Saturday, November 2nd. The Southern Super Series portion of the All American 400 will be 300-laps.
October 28, 2013
