Fort Kent native Austin Theriault’s debut for Ken Schrader Racing in the ARCA series couldn’t have started any better on Saturday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway.
Theriault, who qualified ninth, won the Lucas Oil 200 by passing Terry Jones on Lap 73 and taking the checkered flag two laps later.
The race ended five laps short of the intended distance due to damage to the SAFER Barrier caused by a Lap 75 accident and time constraints. There was also some light rain.
There were six cautions, red flags and three multi-car wrecks.
“It was special. Daytona is special,” said Theriault on Monday. “(Crew chief Donnie Richeson) has been trying to get to Victory Lane at Daytona for a long time. It finally worked out for him.”
Richeson has helped produce several wins for KSR during his 15 years but he had never won at Daytona.
The fact the race was halted early didn’t dampen Theriault’s enthusiasm.
“A win is a win. Not many people can say they’ve won at Daytona,” said Theriault. “It’s a good feeling.”
Jones finished second with Cunningham Motorsports teammates Shane Lee and Dalton Sargeant and pole-sitter Tom Hessert rounding out the top five in the 39-car field.
Theriault said Lee, Sargeant and Hessert provided drafting help to him during the race, “but I also think we played a big part in it as well because our car was fast.”
It was Theriault’s second career ARCA victory as he won the Corrigan Oil 200 at Michigan International Speedway in his ARCA debut in 2014.
Theriault said be benefited from having run two Camping World Truck Series races at Daytona, “because l had experience racing there and a lot of guys didn’t.”
Theriault will run the full 20-race schedule for Schrader, a longtime Sprint Cup driver.
“We’ve got a good mix on the team of young mechanics and older people who have experience,” said Theriault. “This is my first real opportunity in a national series to race for a points championship. We’re off to a good start but we’ve got 19 races to go.”
The next race will be April 8 at Fairgrounds Speedway in Nashville, Tennessee.
Theriault will use the time between races to bond with his new team and test race cars.
Theriault drove 11 races with six top-five finishes for Hattori Racing Enterprises in the K and N Pro Series East tour last year and has six NASCAR Xfinity Series and 11 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts on his resume.