Austin Theriault on Fan4Racing Radio’s Winner’s Circle at 8:40 pm ET, Monday, September 11, 2017, Photo – ARS
Austin Theriault is our guest on Fan4Racing NASCAR & Race Talk, Monday, September 11, 2017, at 8:40 pm ET. Call 929-477-1790 or tweet @Fan4RacingSite or @MoparMJ8 with any questions or comments during our LIVE broadcast.
ARCA Racing Series points leader, Austin Theriault is on a roll, making it three-straight victories with his win at Salem Speedway this weekend in his No. 52 Ken Schrader Racing throwback to Jack Bowsher, who won three ARCA championships.
Theriault had to track down Zane Smith in the closing laps to pass him with four laps left to race in the Eddie Gilstrap Motors Fall Classic 200. The victory was Theriault’s sixth of the season and his seventh career series win.
Looking similar to his throwback driver, Jack Bowsher who won seven straight races at Salem Speedway from 1963 through 1965, Theriault led 140 of the 200 lap race.
“What an honor to win here…this seems like everybody’s favorite track,” said Theriault. “This place will beat you up. I didn’t know Jack (Bowsher) obviously but to be mentioned in the same sentence with him is an honor. A lot of his family was here tonight and with me in Victory Lane…pretty special to be a part of that. Maybe he was riding with us tonight.”
With his first pit stop in the books, Theriault led the first 136 laps until Tom Hessert gained the lead off pit road during the second and last stop. Hessert led four laps when Smith, who passed Theriault for second-place, raced his way to lead lap 142. Smith then pulled away by ten car-lengths with Hessert battling Theriault for the second spot.
Once Theriault cleared Hessert, he made his charge toward the leader, getting under Smith in turns one and two and taking the lead on lap 196 for the rest of the race.
Theriault also clinched the Sioux Chief Short Track Challenge championship and now leads the General Tire Superspeedway Challenge title battle.
Dalton Sargeant finished third, Josh Williams fourth and Gus Dean round out the top-five finishers.
Giving credit to his hardworking crew, led by Cometic Crew Chief leader Donnie Richeson, Theriault says the next three races will come with a great deal of hard work too.
“This Ken Schrader Racing team has just been working so hard,” Theriault said. “We were able to get ourselves in a position with the points where we had some cushion…give us some room to try some things. It took a few laps for our tires to fire off with the tire pressure we needed, but in the long runs, we were exceptional. The General Tires worked very well. But we haven’t lucked into any of these wins…it’s all just hard work.
“We need to focus on the mile-and-a-halves now…that’s where we need the most work. These last three speedway races will be a real test for this team.”
Next up for the ARCA Racing Series is the Scott 150 at Chicagoland Speedway on Thursday, September 14th at 2 pm ET with TV coverage on FOX Sports 1.