Theriault Tops PASS Field at Southern National
BKR Development Driver Earns Second PASS South Win Of Season
KENLY, N.C. – Everything went according to plan for Fort Kent, Maine’s, Austin Theriault at Southern National Motorsports Park this weekend, and the Brad Keselowski Racing development driver collected his second career PASS South Series victory by winning the Rumble In The Pines 150 on Sunday, June 23.
Theriault set fast time in all three weekend practice sessions, won his first career pole in qualifying and then dominated the second half of the race to win the rain-delayed Rumble In The Pines 150 in his first-ever visit to the .400-mile banked oval.
“Everybody on the team kept their heads up all weekend,” said Theriault, who also won at Dillon Motor Speedway in Dillon, S.C., in March. “We made small changes, and we made the car really good on the long runs. I was lucky enough to be the guy behind the wheel.”
In four PASS South Series starts this season, Theriault has two wins, three Top-5s and four Top-10s.
Theriault redrew the 10th starting position following a re-draw of the Top-10 qualifiers from time trials. He avoided an accident ahead of him on Lap 1 to gain track position, then contently rode inside the Top-3 through the middle portion of the race. Shortly after halfway, Theriault moved the BKR No. 29 Checkered Flag Foundation Ford Fusion to the lead – after which he proceeded to pull away over a number of late-race restarts.
It was Theriault’s third career PASS win, including a PASS North Series win to conclude the 2012 season.
“I kept trying to tell myself that if we stayed patient, we’d be better than (the early race leader),” Theriault said. “After a while, it was evident that he was pushing it a little harder than I was. You could see that his car was getting a little loose, so I put some pressure on him, made the pass in lapped traffic, and from there on, I didn’t look back.”
Theriault now heads to the World Crown 300 at Gresham Motorsports Park in Jefferson, Ga., on July 4.
“Anytime you win, it’s a boost for confidence,” Theriault said. “It was hard to shake the disappointment from (the Battle At Berlin 251 last weekend), because we still felt like we could have had a podium finish. When that happens, you just have to turn the page, and we did that this week. We’ll turn the page on this, too, and move on to Georgia in a couple weeks.”
Sources: Travis Barrett/GWC New England/Austin Theriault Racing PR