Austin Theriault on ARCA Championship

By Rene Cloukey

Austin Theriault had one of the most successful years on the ARCA Circuit. Theriault won seven races and captured the ARCA Points Championship. The Fort Kent driver spent a few days in the County. He sat down with Rene Cloukey for an extended interview that will air all this week.

Rene Cloukey:” We have a special interview with Austin Theriault. This is something that will run over the next few days. We just want to give you a chance to know Austin a little bit better. Congratulations on winning the ARCA Championship this year that must have been a really special year for you and your team.

(Austin Theriault:”) It was and it is really nice to be here. I have never been on set before. I have driven by many times and it is nice to be here. Thanks for everything you have done in the past. 2017 was an awesome year and here we are sitting at the beginning of 2018. Looking back and seeing what we accomplished is really special for me and the team.Everybody behind the scenes at Ken Scrader Racing. Ken is a legend of NASCAR. He raced NASCAR for twenty something years and is such a likeable guy behind the scenes too. Separating from the business standpoint as a team owner he is such a great guy. To get basically his first Championship in the ARCA Series was great for me. It made me feel really good. Everybody knew what Kenny did to work year after year to get to that position. To see him stand up in Indianapolis giving his Championship speech. It’s moments like that you cherish because you never know when your last opportunity will come. 20 years from now no matter what happens in my career whether it is the beginning or the end. we will be looking back at these moments and really cherishing them.”

Rene Do you think this championship was special for him also?

Theriault:” We were joking I said I could see the emotions that he was displaying. I said this has to be different than winning a championships as a driver because when you come back and you feel you have built a family you have the crew chief drivers and everyone behind the scenes. Basically you have seen the success of the team that you put on .I think he was emotional because he was seeing his family in front of him winning races and winning championships. I think it hit a place in his heart knowing that his hard work and dedication finally paid off.

Rene:” You walked into this situation not knowing anybody on this crew. You guys came together quickly and built quite a relationship.”

Theriault:”Basically January of 2017 when I left Fort Kent and traveled back to North Carolina to start the year. I met the guys for the first time. It didn’t really remind me of any other experience. I have had a lot of opportunities with top notch teams and great people. Over at that team behind the scenes Kenny hired our Crew Chief Donny Richardson who has worked with Kenny for 15 years. He has worked for KSR for 15 years. Donny is a great leader. When I met them and sat down for lunch with them the first and I fell in love with them. I knew at that point we had not even started racing yet. I knew it was going to be a special year. We won 7 races but it was special.”

Rene:’ Winning Daytona and continuing winning. Was Dayonta the highlight of the year?”

Theriualt:”I don’t know if people realize, but in 2015 I had come so close to winning that race in the truck series. Daytona you never say I almost won because anybody can win that race. We led a lot of laps and even in 2016 after breaking my back and having that terrible injury and coming back to Daytona I led a lot of laps. Getting wrecked out makes 2017 even more special because three times and the third time was the charm.

Rene:” Of course we are going to continue talking to Austin Theriault over the next few evenings. This was just a look at this ARCA Series. We will have more more tomorrow night.”