Fort Kent race-car driver Austin Theriault is in preliminary talks with a couple of teams in each of the NASCAR Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series and is optimistic he will be in a ride for at least the season opener at Daytona International Speedway on the weekend of Feb. 19-21.
And he is hoping he will also land a multirace deal.
“I’m more confident about Daytona than anything else [after Daytona],” said Theriault, who will turn 22 later this month. “There’s a really good chance I’ll be [racing] at Daytona.”
Theriault had a 13-race deal with Brad Keselowski Racing in the truck series last season but he missed four races after suffering a 10 percent compression fracture in his back after crashing at the Rhino Linings 350 on Oct. 3 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
He had two top-five and four top-10 finishes in his first eight races before the crash. He returned for the final race and placed 12th at the Ford EcoBoost 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
In 2014, he landed a three-race deal in the Xfinity Series for JR Motorsports and he has finishes of 15th, 18th and 21st.
Theriault said he is also talking to sponsors and would like to land a deal that would involve a “substantial” number of races in either series.
“I’m confident something will come together,” said Theriault. “I would love to run a full schedule but, at this point, it would surprise me if that happens. It is possible.
“There are a lot of conversations going on,” he added.
Theriault said he has to be “smart” about landing a deal. He doesn’t want to just be a field-filler with very little chance of competing for a top-10 finish.
“I want to be in decent equipment. I want to put myself in the best position to run up front. At the same time, I’m being realistic,” said Theriault.
He feels healthy but still works out and undergoes physical therapy to develop his strength and the muscle tissue around the two bones that were broken in the accident.
“The bones are basically 100 percent healthy,” said Theriault, who will attend the Northeast Motorsports Expo in Augusta on Saturday and Sunday.