Young Maine racers envision winning the TD Bank 250 the same way football players pine for throwing or catching the winning touchdown in a Super Bowl.

It’s because they understand and appreciate the proud history of Oxford Plains Speedway’s showcase race and recognize the names of the stars who won it before they were born. It’s also because they understand the career boost that might come with the victory.

Austin Theriault is no different than the other daydreamers, except that he already has been given that big break.

Theriault, 18, hasn’t even had possession of his diploma from Fort Kent Community School for two months. But the former student council president and varsity wrestler has an itinerary that includes past or future travels to Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Iowa, Indiana and Michigan, driving a super late model for Brad Keselowski Racing.

Yes, that Brad Keselowski — the NASCAR Sprint Cup star whom Theriault competed against ever-so-briefly when the two were entered in the TD Bank 250 in 2010.

“We’re about halfway done (with the 11-race schedule). We’ve got some good races coming up and we’ve had some good runs,” Theriault said.

In his most recent ride, Theriault finished fourth in the 29th annual World Crown Classic at Gresham Motorsports Park in Jefferson, Ga.

He’ll also tackle a series of significant events this fall, capped by the storied Snowball Derby in Pensacola, Fla., on Dec. 2.

Theriault can’t say for sure that the 250 is where his talent caught Keselowski’s eye.

“I knew some people who knew some people,” he said. “We’ve run good. I don’t know if that helped at all.”

That he has. It has been a meteoric rise for Theriault since making the jump into a touring-style Late Model at 15.

After failing to qualify for his initial 250, Theriault finished third as a 17-year-old in 2011. It shattered 1979 winner Tom Rosati’s record for the youngest podium finisher at the race by two years.

“It’s a big boost to any person’s career whether or not they want to make (racing) a career or not,” Theriault said. “If you win the race you win a lot money, but more important it’s having your name up there as a 250 winner. You can’t buy that.”

Theriault continued his midsummer tear in 2011 by finishing a close second to Brian Hoar in an American-Canadian Tour event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

And he continues to run up front consistently. This season — already his third with ACT — Theriault is the only driver to finish in the top 10 in all five races.

All that eludes him is a major victory.

“You’ve got to win. If you want to win a championship, you have to win races,” Theriault said. “Every once in a while you’ll get lucky if you run up front, but you’ve just got to be that much better. The cars are so close that it doesn’t take much, but it doesn’t take much to not be good, either.”

Theriault’s team is willing to take a gamble in order to climb that final rung on the ladder.

Even with last year’s third-place ride at the ready, Theriault and crew chief Mickey Green will unveil a new Ford this weekend.

“I guess if I wouldn’t have had a couple just like it running (weekly at Oxford), I might be more hesitant,” Green said. “But in my opinion, we couldn’t win with the old car. The new car is going to be the one that’s going to take us to that first win, or wins. When Austin told me after he tested it for 30 laps that we would have won if we’d had it at Oxford or at Devil’s Bowl (earlier this season), I’ve got to believe that he knows what he’s feeling.”

In addition to the ACT race May 20, in which he finished fifth, Theriault tackled a pair of recent weekly races at Oxford.

Learning how to tackle the tricky oval at all times of day, in every type of weather, has been part of his strategy for Sunday.

“I think the car is better than it was last year. We’ve tried different things, gone better and gone worse. We’re trying to take the best of everything,” Theriault said. “The more you run there, the better, because the track is always changing. It’s way different than it was in the ACT race.”

It has been a whirlwind journey for Theriault since his grandfather, Richard, bought him a car to race in a youth division at the reopened Spud Speedway in his native Aroostook County in 2007.

Though the driver and his national name recognition have grown, he hasn’t outgrown the crew of mostly family and friends that helped him start it all.

“We’ve come a long way. We started with guys off the street, people that had no experience at all,” Theriault said. “That’s good, because you don’t start with people who think they know everything and don’t want to change. The more people are open-minded about things in racing, the better off you’ll be.”

Keselowski’s open-mindedness and courage in hiring a raw talent from America’s northeast rooftop as a development driver already has been rewarded.

Theriault isn’t certain what 2013 will bring, but he knows the enterprise is in good hands.

“He puts in as much time as he possibly can,” Theriault said of his part-time boss. “He has a lot going on. He’s got the right people overseeing it.”

And the right man driving.

koakes@sunjournal.com

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