Austin Theriault: ACT Late Model Tour - Waterford Speedbowl Race Report

Austin Theriault: ACT Late Model Tour
Waterford Speedbowl Race Report
　
Austin Theriault of Fort Kent, Maine, finished 11th in the final event of the ACT Late Model Tour 2010 season, the Waterford 150 at Waterford Speedbowl in Waterford, Conn., on Sunday, October 10. Theriault started 18th and inched closer to the Top-10 in the first half of the race -- but a lack of caution flags late in the event cost the No. 57 Varney Insurance Ford valuable track position. Still, in his first full season of ACT competition, the 16-year-old driver posted five Top-10s in 10 starts and ended with a Top-10 finish in the overall standings.

WHO: Austin Theriault, Fort Kent, Maine
TEAM: No. 57 Varney Insurance Ford Fusion

WHAT: ACT Late Model Tour Waterford 150
WHERE: Waterford Speedbowl, Waterford, Conn. (.333-mile oval)

STARTED: 18th
FINISHED: 11th

FINAL EVENT OF 2010 SEASON

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AUSTIN, IT LOOKS LIKE YOU NEEDED ANOTHER CAUTION OR TWO TO HELP GET SOME TRACK POSITION.

It was not an ordinary race -- there were not many cautions at all (only two). We were coming up toward the front early, but (race winner Joey Polewarczyk) was just so fast he was putting people a lap down. I'd just gotten up to 13th when he lapped me -- and when the caution came out (on Lap 68), Joey was right in front of me so I kind of got caught there.

If caution had come out a little before then, we probably could have had a better day. But you know what? You can't really look at it like that. It's racing.

UNOFFICIALLY, IT LOOKS LIKE YOU MISSED THE ACT ROOKIE OF THE YEAR AWARD BY JUST A FEW POINTS. ARE YOU DISAPPOINTED?

Not at all, to be honest with you. It came down to the last race of the year, and we're not disappointed.

I was looking back at the beginning of the year -- and after Oxford (in May), we were 11 points behind. We made up that deficit and built a lead -- so even to come a couple points shy of winning it was a big deal for us.

We got better as a team. So did the competition. A couple times during the year, we probably were not on our game as much as we should have been. But we still made progress every week, and that's the big thing.

WHEN YOU LOOK BACK AT THE END OF THE YEAR -- PARTICIPATING IN THE ACT INVITATIONAL AND QUALIFYING FOR THE MILK BOWL -- YOU'RE PROBABLY GOING TO LOOK AT ALL THE POSITIVES, RIGHT?

Definitely. There were 61 cars at the Milk Bowl (at Thunder Road) and just to qualify for that race was big.

I really don't know what we could have done different this year. You know, we learned a lot every time we went back to a track -- and next year we'll get even better. Even if you go to a track twice, you can't say you're perfect at it. It takes many times to know what's going on at a place -- even the second time at tracks, I was still learning. I'm excited about next year already.