Fort Kent’s Austin Theriault, who is running third in the K and N Pro Series East tour points standings, has entered the 43rd annual Oxford 250 scheduled for Sunday at Oxford Plains Speedway.
There isn’t another K and N Series race until the Kevin Whitaker 140 at Greenville Pickens Speedway in South Carolina on Sept. 5.
Theriault didn’t run the 250 last year because he had a 13-race deal with Brad Keselowski Racing in the Camping World Truck Series.
He had a string of four top-four finishes in the Oxford 250 culminating in his second-place finish behind Morrill’s Travis Benjamin in 2014.
“The Oxford 250 has a lot of history. I took a year off but I’m looking forward to coming back and having some success. I have a new Super Late Model car I’ve been working on for a few months,” the 22-year-old Theriault said on Wednesday while doing some observing with the BKR team at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee before the UNOH 200 Camping World Truck Series race.
Theriault occasionally does some practice spotting for his former BKR Truck Series teammate, Tyler Reddick.
He said he is able to learn things from observing in the spotter’s stand.
Theriault said there is still a chance another opportunity could come up which would prevent him from racing in the 250.
He had been surging in the K and N Series with four straight top-five finishes until he wound up 20th among 21 cars in the Bully Hill Vineyards 100 at Watkins Glen International on Aug. 5.
“We had a wheel-bearing problem. It was disappointing. We were coming off a real solid finish at Iowa,” said Theriault, referring to his third-place effort at the Casey’s General Store 150 at Iowa Speedway.
Theriault has 383 points, 38 behind second-place Kyle Benjamin and 74 adrift of leader Justin Haley, with three races remaining.
“We’ve come a long way in the points,” said Theriault, who has six top-five and eight top-10 finishes in 11 races.
He is hoping to land a ride for the Sept. 24 Camping World Truck Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire.
That is an off weekend for the K and N Series.
“Loudon is a big target on the wall,” said Theriault. “I don’t have anything yet. It is potentially achievable. If it happens, it will be because of regional support from Maine and New England. I’m going to try to put the puzzle pieces together.”