What’s Happening?

NASCAR driver-turned-politician Austin Theriault is currently running as a Republican for the United States House of Representatives in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District. He recently received an endorsement from former President and current Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump. Who is Austin Theriault, and how did he end up in NASCAR?

• Austin Theriault competed in various NASCAR divisions throughout the late 2010s. His last start came in the Cup Series in 2019 for Rick Ware Racing.
• Soon after his driving career ended, he became involved in politics. He was elected to the Maine State Legislature in March of 2022 and was sworn into office the following December. Now, he is running for the U.S. House of Representatives.
• NASCAR fans may know Theriault’s name, but, they may have forgotten exactly what he did on the race track. He had a moderately successful racing career overall.

The Story of Theriault’s Racing Career

Born on January 23, 1994, in Fort Kent, Maine, Austin Theriault spent much of his adolescence racing late models. His professional racing career started in 2009 when he competed in the American Canadian Late Model Tour. He won his first race in the series at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Maine in 2012.

During that time, he caught the eye of 2012 NASCAR Cup Series Champion, Brad Keselowski, who was just starting his own race team. According to driverefine.com, where Theriault is listed as a driver coach, Theriault was a development driver for Brad Keselowski Racing in the super late model ranks.

In the mid-2010s, Theriault began to flourish higher up the ranks. He made 3 Xfinity Series starts for JR Motorsports in 2014. That same year, he won the first ARCA Menards Series race he entered, driving for Billy Venturini, one of the top team owners in the sport.

The following year, Theriault moved up to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with BKR, making 9 starts. He did a solid job, recording 4 top-10 finishes, including a 4th place effort in his debut race at Daytona.

His season took a turn for the worse that fall at Las Vegas. Theriault made contact with teammate Tyler Reddick, causing Theriault to violently crash into the retaining wall. He missed the next four races thanks to a compression fracture in his back, but, he returned for the season finale at Homestead-Miami, finishing a respectable 12th. NASCAR later installed SAFER barriers to the wall Theriault hit.

From there, Theriault slowly phased out of the Truck Series before competing full-time in the ARCA Menards Series in 2017 for former 4-time NASCAR Cup Series race winner, Kenny Schrader. Competing against current NASCAR drivers like Justin Haley, Christian Eckes, and Sheldon Creed, Theriault went on to win 7 races and become the series Champion.

This turned out to be Theriault’s final full-time racing season. He made sporadic appearances across the lower levels of stock car racing, but, his final appearances came at the highest level. He made 5 Cup Series starts for Rick Ware Racing in 2019, never placing higher than 32nd.

From there, Theriault stepped out of the driver’s seat. He joined fellow former NASCAR Driver Joey Coulter at DriveRefine as a driver coach and consultant. Now, Theriault is working his way into politics.