Episode 15

July 20, 2014

Carl Theriault formerly of Caribou, Maine displays his time slip for 221.568 mph making the fastest man on four wheels at the Maine Event sanctioned by the Loring Timing Association.

Carl Theriault, formerly of Caribou now living in Massachusetts, set the top speed for four-wheeled vehicles at the Maine Event held at the former Loring Air Force Base in Limestone, Maine. The event sanctioned by the Loring Timing Association hosted over 80 competitors from the United States and Canada. Theriault raced to a top speed of 221.568 in the mile and one-half and 209.581 in the one mile.
Theriault’s 1987 Mustang began its life in a rather innocuous way. When new the car came equipped with a four-cylinder engine which did it’s job for 90,000 mile. It then was traded in for another vehicle and became the recipient of a pull truck engine.
Theriault acquired the Mustang and with the assistance of Jason Theriault at JRT Customs in Caribou has completely converted the Mustang to a fire-breathing stallion. It now features a 427 small-block Ford breathing through one four barrel carb and producing 709 horsepower without nitrous.
Theriault said, “The engine is set up to handle a 400 horsepower shot of nitrous and down the road up to 2400 horsepower with a turbo if I choose to go that route. My goal this summer was to get in the 200 MPH Club which I did Saturday without nitrous. Sunday I set it up for a 250 hp shot and went 205 in the mile and 220 in the mile and one-half.”
After his final run on Sunday Theriault was asked about his weekend. He replied, “The engineer in me wanted another run. (to figure out why his 400 hp nitrous shot would not give him more power than it did) I am the fastest guy here. I can drive my car on the trailer. Time to call it quits for now.”

Carl Theriault of Caribou’s 1987 Ford Mustang on its way to setting the fastest time for four wheeled vehicles at the Loring Timing Association’s Maine Event 2014. His speed of 221.568 mph was almost 3 mph quicker than the 219 mph speed set by the second place Camaro team from Massachusetts.

Jason Theriault of Caribou was knocked off his pedestal as the “Fastest Man in Maine” by Carl Theriault, no relation. He took consolation in the fact that he built the 1987 Mustang at JRT Customs in Caribou. Jason was no slouch this weekend meeting his number one goal of 200 plus in the mile which he eclipsed with a 206.233. This was almost fourteen mph faster than his previous time in the mile of 192 mph. Theriault also set his personal best in the mile and one-half at 214.41 mph.
He will probably be remembered best for his Sunday morning run when just about 1/2 mile down the track at 112 mph the Nissan Skyliner broke loose and skidded sharply to the left then to the right and back once again to the left when Theriault got it back under control, punched the throttle and succeeded in breaking 211 mph despite the sideways antics.Theriault attributed the save to,”…my years of kart racing experience.”

Caribou’s Jason Theriault with shards of his left front tire that started to come apart in his last run on Sunday. The tire may have been damaged in his left-right-left slide from earlier in the day.

Another Caribou man, Jesse Michaud the event safety inspector, set a goal of 160 mph on his 2002 Honda RC51 with a 1000 cc engine. He was able to squeeze out a top speed of 165.536 to better his goal by more than 5 mph.

Another Theriault, Austin, Places Second at Oxford 250

It seems like the Theriault name was one of speed this weekend as Fort Kent’s Austin Theriault placed second in the 41st Annual Oxford 250. Theriault started the race in sixth after winning his heat race. He led several laps and set himself up to duel with Morrill’s Travis Benjamin when they both got fresh tires under caution with 40 laps to go.
Benjamin joins the list of back-to-back winners last accomplished by Eddie MacDonald in 2009-10.
This was Theriault’s third podium finish at the Oxford 250 without a win.
Frenchville native, Shawn Martin, placed 10th in the event.

Spud Speedway Hosts Atlantic Modified Tour

Top three drivers in the Atlantic Modified Spud 35 held at Spud Speedway in Caribou. left to right third place Joe Hoyt, second place Mike Raeburn, and first time feature winner Cody Price.

Spud Speedway hosted 10 of the Atlantic Modified Tour racers on their only stopping place in the United States until they return in September to the Caribou racetrack. The crowd was treated to excellent races in all divisions. The evening finale, the Spud 35, featured close racing from the Canadian drivers with Cody Price taking his first feature win of the 2014 season. A last lap caution forced a green-white checkers finish which allowed second place Mike Raeburn to close up the small gap to Price on the restart. Price, however, did not panic and held off Raeburn and third place finisher Joe Hoyt for the victory.

Bangor’s John Cassidy Wins Regional Rallies at the New England Forest Rally at Sunday River

Rally tires and rims are tough as Last Ditch Racing’s John Cassidy proved by driving 23 miles to finish a stage of the New England Forest Rally based out of Sunday River Ski resort. LDR Team photo.

John Cassidy of Bangor and co-driver Dave Getchell of Camden won both the Maine Regional Rally and the New Hampshire Regional Rally titles in the open class at Rally America’s New England Forest Rally based at Sunday River Ski resort. The Last Ditch Racing team overcame adversity like a rock stuck between the tire and rim which held air and allowed them to race 23 miles to the end of that stage.
The overall rally winners were Vermont Sports Cars David Higgins and co-driver Craig Drew in their 2014 Subaru Team USA rally car. Finishing second was team-mate Travis Pastrana and co-driver Chrissie Beavis in their Subaru WRX STI.

Final Note
Yours truly finally tasted victory Saturday evening besting Caribou’s Tyler Raymond in the Senior Champ kart division at Spud Speedway. It has been a long drought since my last victory. Raymond got a lesson in race track positioning to hold off your nearest competitor. Blocking? Who’s blocking???

Let’s go racing!

Tom Hale
Soli Deo Gloria