AT RACING: Flat Tires End Austin Theriault’s Bid at Oxford Plains
PASS North Series: Austin Theriault Oxford Plains Speedway Race Report
OXFORD, Maine – Austin Theriault of Fort Kent, Maine, finished 25th in the PASS North Series Ripley & Fletcher Ford 150 at Oxford Plains Speedway in Oxford, Maine, on Saturday, September 28. Theriault suffered flat right-side tires on two different occasions after racing his way into the Top-5 by the midway point of the event. Though the AT Racing No. 57 Pelletier Ford/Daigle Oil Ford raced up as high as sixth on the track by the time the checkered flag flew, Theriault was four laps down and unable to recover from the earlier setback. Theriault qualified ninth out of 48 cars in the field and started 13th by virtue of PASS’ handicapping procedure.
WHO: Austin Theriault, Fort Kent, Maine
TEAM: AT Racing No. 57 Pelletier Ford/Daigle Oil Company Ford
WHAT: PASS Ripley & Fletcher Ford 150
WHERE: Oxford Plains Speedway, Oxford, Maine (.375-mile oval)
STARTED: 13th
FINISHED: 25th
NEXT RACE: October 14, Winchester 400, Winchester Speedway, Winchester, Ind. (.500-mile banked oval)
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AUSTIN, WHAT HAPPENED ON LAP 78?
We had just gone green and the right front tire started to go down. The caution came out, and we came in and put a right side tire on – and under the same caution, we had another tire go down. It as obviously not the result we wanted.
It’s too bad. I thought we had a good weekend, but the results are not going to show that we did. It’s too bad.
HOW GOOD WAS THE CAR BEFORE THAT?
We had to start outside of the Top-10, and I knew it was going to be difficult. Between Beech Ridge and Oxford, it’s difficult to pass. At the start of the race, we were too tight, but the car kept getting better and better and everyone else started falling off. We got up into the Top-5, and it’s unfortunate what happened after that.
It makes you feel better when you have cars capable of winning, but it’s still not a good thing when you can’t show it and you can’t get the results you want.
WOULD YOU HAVE HAD A CAR THAT COULD CONTEND IF YOU’D GOTTEN BACK ON THE LEAD LAP?
We would have gotten a decent finish, but we had the tires mismatched. I think we were good enough to run Top-10 if we’d gotten the Lucky Dog, but it’s so competitive, you need to have everything 100 percent. When you start thrashing and finding different tires and different sized tires with different laps on them, you’re just trying to salvage a good finish.
We were close to getting one, but we just ran out of time. Everything didn’t fall in our favor.
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Sources: Travis Barrett/AT Racing PR