Hoar, Theriault Differ Over White Mountain Contact
Posted By Tj Ingerson On June 27, 2012
Categories: American-Canadian Tour
PHOTO: Brian Hoar (#37) gets loose after apparent contact with Austin Theriault (#57) in the closing stages of the White Mountain 150. The incident left both drivers viewing it differently. (Eric LaFleche/VLFPhotos.com photo)
--by T.J. Ingerson
NORTH WOODSTOCK, N.H. -- If American-Canadian Tour fans wanted some on-track animosity between two drivers, they might have just gotten their wish.
Eight-time American-Canadian Tour champion Brian Hoar and his former teammate, the young hotshoe Austin Theriault, were battling for the fourth position, as the duo were reeling in second and third place runners Joey Polewarczyk, Jr., and Eric Chase.
Hoar left a small gap to the inside of the speedway as Hoar was looking for a way around Polewarczyk and Chase, and Theriault seized the opportunity. Theriault moved his No. 57 Ford into that open piece of race track, and made contact with the No. 37 Dodge of Hoar. Hoar’s car moved up the race track and Theriault took the position.
Theriault went on to finish fourth while Hoar held on for fifth, and both left White Mountain Motorsports Park with differing views.
“I think (Brian) opened it up and I stuck in there with five to go,” Theriault explained after the race. “With five to go, the gloves come off, especially with the cars being more equal and how close the points are. I think it’s important to get everything that you can.”
“Austin (Theriault) simply muscled his way by me,” Hoar said in a team press release. “I was in a tight battle with the 40 (of Chase) and the 97 (of Polewarczyk), as was he. I left just enough opening for him to wedge himself in there, and he sure did. I don't deny that I left the opening. I hope when it's all said and done the two points were worth it to him, because I'll remember that.”
“With three or four laps to go, I've learned you've got to take chances,” Theriault said in a team press release. “If a guy gives you three-quarters of a lane and he opens it up, you have to fill the hole and worry about the outcomes later. I did that. I knew we were going to make contact (with the 37), and I didn't think it went over the edge.
“That doesn't give you the green light to take a guy out of his lane, either,” Theriault said. “I calculated that. I feel it was as clean as it could have been. It could have been a lot worse. Obviously, the emotions fired and things will only get better from here as everybody has time to reflect. Anybody in that situation would have probably done the same thing, especially when you're racing for points as close as the points battle is right now.”
“He was no faster than we were,” Hoar said. “It is what it is, the facts are the facts. When I got muscled up the track, I looked and saw who it was. It got ugly from there. I got a little heated.”
Hoar and Theriault will next compete against each other in one of the biggest races of the year, the TD Bank 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway.