Fort Kent’s Austin Theriault will jump back into a race car next week as he prepares for the 47th annual Snowball Derby 300-lap race at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida, but his racing future for 2015 is uncertain.
“It’s important to be flexible,” he said. “It would be nice to have more of a set schedule than I had last year but to do different things throughout the season like I did was a big deal and was worth it.
“[Doing different things] doesn’t hurt you if you do it right and compartmentalize everything. You learn a lot. It’s very valuable,” he added. “We might not have gotten the results we wanted but that’s part of racing. To get the results you want, to be able to contend every week, you have to get experience first.”
Cherryfield native Andy Santerre, a former Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year and race winner, said Theriault has a lot of positives but the key for him will be finding a financial backer or backers.
“He’s a great kid. Everybody likes him and respects him and everyone knows he has talent. But not many guys get rides based on their talent. They have to have money,” he said.
The ARCA series would be a good fit for Theriault if he can’t land a ride in the Nationwide, Camping World Trucks or K and N Pro Series East circuits, according to Santerre.
“ARCA gets more [media] coverage than the K and N Series and it’s easier to win in the ARCA series,” said Santerre. “Anything in the NASCAR [Nationwide, Trucks, K and N] or ARCA series would be good for him.”
Theriault will conclude the 2014 racing season in the Snowball Derby, which begins at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 7.
Practice will be held on the previous Thursday and qualifying will take place Friday.
Theriault will be driving a car he bought last January from Ross Kenseth, the son of Sprint Cup driver Matt Kenseth.
Theriault drove it to a third-place finish in the Speedfest 200 Super Late Model race in January at Watermelon Capital Speedway in Cordele, Georgia, behind winner and newly crowned Nationwide Series points champion Chase Elliott and second-place driver Daniel Hemric.
This will be Theriault’s second race in the car.
Theriault wound up third in last year’s Snowball Derby 300 in a Brad Keselowski Racing car behind Erik Jones and Grant Enfinger. Elliott actually won the race but was disqualified.
The 20-year-old Theriault enjoys the race over the half-mile track and said it was a prestigious event.
“It’s challenging and fun at the same time. You’ve got [good] racers from all over the country,” said Theriault. “To have your name on the trophy is a huge accomplishment.”
Theriault is coming off a season in which he made his debut in the Nationwide and ARCA series.
He drove three Nationwide races for JR Motorsports, owned by Sprint Cup driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., his sister Kelley Earnhardt Miller and Rick Hendrick, owner of Earnhardt’s Cup team.
He finished 15th at Iowa Speedway, 21st at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and 18th at Kentucky Speedway.
Theriault won his ARCA debut on the 2-mile track at Michigan International Speedway. He was the first driver since Alex Bowman in 2011 to win his first ARCA race.
Santerre said Theriault’s ARCA win at Michigan was impressive.
“He’s a short-track guy who won at a fast, tough 2-mile track,” said Santerre. “Now it’s just a matter of getting with the right team and getting the financial backing. The financial backing dictates where you go and who you get with.”
Theriault also ran six races in the Pro All-Stars Series Super Late Model North series and had four top-five finishes. He was second to Morrill’s Travis Benjamin in the 41st annual Oxford 250, which marked his fourth consecutive top-four finish in Maine’s most prestigious and wealthy race.
“The Super Late Model races are more for having fun,” he said.