Fort Kent’s Austin Theriault will take a break from racing in the Camping World Truck Series before climbing back in the No. 29 Ford for the final eight races of the season beginning Sept. 18 at Chicagoland Speedway.
T heriault, who has a 13-race deal driving for Brad Keselowski Racing, concluded a stretch of three consecutive races with a 12th-place finish in the American Ethanol 200 at Iowa Speedway last weekend. He started 18th.
He had finished 10th after starting 10th in the Drivin’ for Linemen 200 at Gateway Motorsports Park the previous week and placed fifth after starting sixth in the Winstar World Casino 400 on June 5.
Earlier in the season, he crossed the finish line fourth at the NextEra Energy Resources at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 20 and was 14th in the Toyota Tundra 250 at Kansas Speedway on May 8.
He is 18th among drivers in the points standings despite running just five of the nine races. Sixteen of the drivers ahead of him have run at least eight races and one, Brandon Jones, has run seven. Jones is 14th in points.
The truck, with four different drivers, is sixth in the owner points.
His BKR teammate, Tyler Reddick, is second in driver points and owner points in the No. 19 truck.
“I’m happy. You can look at it and say we didn’t get the finishes we wanted but when you put it into perspective it has been a good learning experience,” said the 21-year-old Theriault. “We’ve been fast. We got the finishes we deserved at Daytona, Texas and Gateway but Iowa and Kansas were a little more disappointing for us.
“At the same time, we were fast during the race but things didn’t work out. That’s part of racing.”
Theriault had to drive a back-up truck and start 32nd at Kansas Speedway because Reddick collected him in a wreck during qualifying.
Last weekend, he said he pitted during green flag racing “and then the caution came out.”
“I just didn’t have enough time to get back to the top 10,” said Theriault.
He said he feels “pretty good” heading into the final stretch of the season because he has “learned a lot in a short amount of time. There is certainly still a lot to learn. You never get to a point where you’re done learning.”
He will accompany the team to the next six races, which will have Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano or Ryan Blaney in the No. 29 truck.
That means he will miss the Oxford 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway on Aug. 30 because the BKR team is racing in the Chevrolet Silverado 250 in Bowmanville, Ontario.
Theriault has finished among the top four in the last four Oxford 250s, including second to Morrill’s Travis Benjamin in last year’s race.
“I need to be with the team,” said Theriault. “It’s the right thing to do.”
He will be at the BKR shop helping out when he can during the next few months.
“I try to go to the shop every day and I try to spend one full day a week in the shop (working),” said Theriault. “They work hard and you want to show them that you appreciate what they do for you. It’s a good thing to do.”
He will do whatever they ask of him at the races in which he won’t be racing.
Theriault will return to spend some time with his family in Fort Kent and said he is busy trying to secure sponsorship deals for the future.
“It’s important to be proactive (in obtaining sponsorship),” said Theriault.
He said his goal for next season is to “run full-time in the truck series.
“I would love to make that happen,” said Theriault, who added that he has had “healthy talks” with the brass at Keselowski Racing about that possibility.
He is excited about driving the truck for the final eight races.
“It’ll probably be the most hectic schedule I’ve ever experienced but I’m looking forward to it,” said Theriault.
One of those races will be the UNOH 175 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sept. 16.