Fort Kent’s Austin Theriault continued his climb up the K and N Pro Series East points standings by salvaging a seventh-place finish at the East Stafford 150 at Stafford Motor Speedway in Connecticut on Friday night.
He qualified ninth but had to start last (22nd) because he had to fix his power steering line after qualifying.
He has moved from eighth place to fifth in the standings during his rookie season.
In addition to starting 22nd, Theriault was also spun out and went a lap down during the race before making his way through the field.
“We could have easily not finished the race but we recovered,” said Theriault, who has been on a nice roll of late.
He finished fifth and third, respectively, in the previous two races.
He now has three top-five finishes and the seventh through seven races after failing to crack the top 14 in three of his first four races.
Theriault has 236 points and is 50 points behind points leader Justin Haley.
There are eight races remaining, beginning with the NAPA 150 at the Columbus Motor Speedway in Ohio on July 2. That will be followed by the Granite State 70 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on July 16.
“I’m looking forward to New Hampshire. That has been a good track for us in the past,” Theriault said.
“If you throw out the couple of bad races, we’d be right where we need to be,” said Theriault, whose worst finish was 24th in the opener, the Jet Tools 150 at New Smyrna Speedway (Florida), when he got a flat tire and had rear-end problems.
“We need to clean up our act a little bit and not make mistakes. If we do, we’ll be fine,” said Theriault, who drives Toyotas for (Shigeaki) Hattori Racing Enterprises.
He said it is important to run consistently in the top five and “start challenging for a win. We want to start chipping away at the points lead.”
Theriault has had to adapt to a new crew chief the past two races as Rich Lushes has replaced John Monsam.
Theriault said he enjoyed working with Monsam and has also liked working with Lushes.
“Rich and I definitely think a lot alike,” said Theriault. “We have a similar background coming from super late models. We’re still finding that groove with our communication but we’re off to a good start.
“It’s hard when you hit the reset button midway through and you’re racing against guys who have worked with each other for several years,” added Theriault. “But we’re just going to keep getting better.”
He ran nine Camping World Truck Series races for Brad Keselowski Racing last year and one this season. He hopes to run at least another one this year.
“I’m waiting for the right opportunity. Loudon comes to mind. I’d love to run that race in the fall if we can get sponsorship and support,” Theriault said of the UNOH 175 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sept. 24.