Oxford 250: ARCA Champ Theriault Is In [VIDEO]

Fort Kent's Austin Theriault will race in next weekend's 45th Oxford 250 Race at Oxford Plains Speedway.

The 2017 ARCA Series champion made the announcement on his Facebook page from the famed Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee last night. Theriault was there working as a spotter for the #04 Roper Racing Team truck in the NASCAR race.

Theriault will race his own #57 car in the Oxford 250 and the primary sponsor is Bangor Savings Bank. The plan is to unveil the car next Thursday at the new Bangor Savings location on the waterfront in Bangor.

After dominating the ARCA Series last year, Theriault is hoping to turn that success into a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series or Xfinity Series ride. While he works toward that goal he has been spotting for racing teams and has worked as a driver coach for MDM Motorsports in the ARCA Series with driver Chase Purdy.

The Oxford 250 is Maine's biggest racing event of the season. Racers come from all over New England to race at Oxford and over the years many NASCAR racers have tried their luck, including Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski,Matt Kenseth and Ricky Craven.

Last year, Mainer driver Curtis Gerry won the race and collected over $32,000 in prize money.