Tanner Foust, Austin Theriault, WAR and More

Episode 2

April 28, 2014

Wyatt Alexander has productive weekend in NELCAR Legends Series

Wyatt Alexander has productive weekend in NELCAR Legends Series

 

Tuning up the racing technique at Maine Indoor Karting in Scarborough

Tuning up the racing technique at Maine Indoor Karting in Scarborough

Wow! After the excitement of the Inaugural Edition of Up North Motorsports launched last week there has been much to talk about in regard to motorsports news so let’s get with it.
The Pro All Stars Series (PASS) North edition got under way this past Sunday after some cold drizzly conditions on Saturday bumped the race to an already crazy Sunday at Oxford Plains Speedway.
Austin Theriault flew in from Richmond after watching the #5 JR Motorsports Nationwide car driven by Kevin Harvick win late Friday night. Future teammate Chase Elliot finished second in the same race. It looks like Austin has got a good team to drive for and being part of that team will put the pressure on him to perform up to their high standards despite his rookie status.
Austin placed sixth in the PASS 150 despite being shuffled back at the end of the race. He seems to have an affinity for the AT Racing #57 that allows him to be competitive despite adversity.
Fort Fairfield’s Kirk Thibeau placed 18th in the same race. Thibeau #28 Ford typically runs a limited schedule of PASS events.
Frenchville native, Shawn Martin, now living in Auburn had the stagger on his #94 out of kilter thus leading to some awkward handling issues. The team compensated for those problems; however, they were too late to make any significant progress in the race and placed 25th.
The Sign Depot Colossal Carnage 150 Enduro race also held Sunday at Oxford had 81 entries with a $7000 first prize. Mike St. Germain won the event and Josh Knoll with Caribou connections placed 4th and won $1000 in the race. Spud Speedway Enduro specialist Bobby Anderson bent an a-arm and was out of the race early.
Wyatt Alexander of Ellsworth with County connections through his grandfather, Hall of Famer Bobby Alexander, placed 3rd at Oxford on Sunday after placing 8th on New Hampshire Motor Speedway’s Road course in the cold rain on Saturday.
Speaking of Bobby Alexander, he will be leading a Basic Stock Car Setup Seminar on Thursday May 1st at 6 pm at Percy’s Auto Sales in Presque Isle. The seminar is put on by Spud Speedway and Percy’s Auto at no charge to participants. UP North Motorsports will be there to get some of the inside scoop for Spud Speedway’s 50th Anniversary Celebration. The track will be hosting many activities which I will feature in a future post.
In March this year I was privileged to be a Producer’s Assistant (PA) or “gopher” for Top Gear USA when they were shooting at Loring and Spud Speedway for a future episode which will air on the History Channel this summer. I had the chance to meet and work with the three hosts of the show Tanner Foust, Rutledge Wood and Adam Ferrara.
Each of them brought their unique individual personalities to the fore in both on-scene and off-scene situations. How you see them on TV seems to be a fairly close match to their off-screen personalities.
I learned that Tanner will be a part of Volkswagen’s Rallycross plans for 2014. He will be driving for Andretti Autosports in the 10 race Global Rallycross series and Sweden’s Marklund Motorsports for the 4 FIA World Rallycross Championship events. He will be teamed up with Scott Speed and the team will be sponsored by Rockstar Energy Drink. They will begin the season with the VW Polo and finish with the 560 horsepower Beetle. The FIA races will be in the VW Polo.
It is kind of neat to be able watch these guys when you know who they are and had the opportunity to work with them.
On a personal note, I had a chance to visit my Westbrook grandkids and attend a Newsboys concert this past weekend. What would a trip to Portland be without a trip to Maine Indoor Karting (MIK) on a Saturday night? I used this as a tune up session for future kart races at Spud Speedway. I want to thank the staff at MIK. A shout out goes to Connor, Nicholas T, Mitchell T, and Garrett all juniors at Exeter High School in Exeter, New Hampshire for providing me with some good competition at MIK.
Let’s go racing!
Soli Deo Gloria
Tom Hale

Tom Hale

About Tom Hale

Tom wrote 14 years as freelancer for the Bangor Daily Sports covering motorsports in Maine. Now blogging and concentrating on human interest stories about people and places in racing. He races Champ Karts and owns HTF Motorsports in remote Westmanland, Maine