Loudon, NH: The
New England 125 weekend at New Hampshire International Speedway
was probably the most exciting of Sean Caisse’s young career.
Although his finish of 26th in the Busch North Series event on
Friday does not nearly indicate how well he ran in the race, the
Pelham, NH teenager turned a lot of heads both on and off the
race track.
The prestige of Nextel Cup weekend at N.H.I.S. brings along
extra perks for the local drivers, specifically special events
and added media opportunities. Touted as one of the up and
coming drivers, Caisse was the recipient of some of the added
attention this weekend.
On Friday morning, Caisse was a guest at the Governor’s
Breakfast where he was able to join New Hampshire Governor John
Lynch and NASCAR notables like Kyle Petty and Ray Evernham to
meet with children receiving care from the Children’s Hospital
at Dartmouth. The event is an annual joint fundraiser for CHaD,
The Children's Hospital at Dartmouth and David's House, a
home-away-from-home for children and their families receiving
treatment at Dartmouth.
"This is something that is very special to me," said Caisse. "It
makes me proud, as a New Hampshire resident, that we have such
tremendous facilities for children in our area and as a racer,
that we can all take the time to participate in such a wonderful
event."
Caisse has been a long-time advocate of the Racing Against
Cancer Program that also works to help support the efforts of
David’ House.
Just prior to the breakfast, Caisse was interviewed live by
local station Rock 101 for their morning drive program, the
Morning Buzz. Throughout the day, WMUR-TV taped footage of
Caisse for an upcoming segment for Channel 9. Details on the
airing of the segment will be available as soon as possible on
www.seancaisse.com.
"This was a lot of fun today. This is something that I could
really get used to," said Caisse of the media attention with
equal parts and humor and aspiration.
All the activities culminated at 5 PM on Friday with the running
of the New England 125. On the track, Caisse held his own with
the veterans, much like he has all season, before hard luck
struck. A series of misfortunes late in the race turned an
excellent run from inside the top-ten into a disappointing
finish. Caisse displayed tremendous determination to finish the
race for his team.
After two great rounds of practice for the Motion Racing Team on
Thursday, a horrendous storm blew into the Loudon, NH area
forcing the cancellation of Bud Pole Qualifying for the Busch
North Series. The line-up for Friday’s race was determined by
the current point standings, placing Caisse tenth on the
starting grid.
Caisse maintained his position in the running order from the
drop of the green flag through lap 18 when the caution flew for
a spin by Ryan Seamon. Several of the lead lap car pitted under
the caution, putting Caisse third on the lap 23 restart. The
team took advantage of another caution only a handful of laps
later to bring the Trik Custom Sleds Chevrolet down pit road for
a two-tire stop.
On the ensuing restart, Caisse lined up 27th in the running
order. A well-handling racecar allowed Caisse to patiently work
his way through the heavy traffic. He made his way back into the
top-20 by lap 34. His progress continued, passing one and even
two cars per lap under the green flag run. By the time the
caution had waved again on lap 67 for debris, Caisse had moved
into the 14th position. Several cars elected to head to pit road
putting put Caisse 11th on the restart. During the short run of
green flag racing, Caisse sat comfortably just outside of the
top ten.
He made a move on Jamie Aube on lap 71 to break back into the
top ten. When the crossed flags were displayed indicating the
halfway mark of the event the field was once again under
caution. The restart came on lap 77 with Caisse in tenth and
moving up. He took over ninth but almost immediately had
problems.
The next caution of the event flew for a spin by Caisse himself
in turn three while trying to pass the lapped car of Matt
Kobyluck. The car sustained front-end damage as impact was made
with the outside retaining wall.
"I’m not really sure what happened with Kobyluck," said Caisse
after the race.
The Motion Racing team was able to make repairs and get Caisse
back in the race on the lead lap. It appeared as if all was not
lost as despite the front-end damage, Caisse was able to make
forward progress after the restart on lap 83. Caisse had moved
to the 15th position and was running unchallenged when the car
began to falter on lap 91.
"We lost a cylinder," said a dejected Caisse. "I knew we were
not going to be competitive anymore, especially here on the mile
but I tried to stay in the race. I did not want to get a DNF."
Caisse lost several laps but we still managed to finish the
race. The young driver persevered, as much for his team as for
himself.
"I am so disappointed for this team," said Caisse. "They worked
so hard today and all season to get us to this point. It is hard
for us all when we have a real competitive day go bad."
"I have to thank the Dumpster Depot and Sugar Hill Speedway for
their support this weekend at New Hampshire. Both companies came
on board to help with the cost of running the event."
The Dumpster Depot, with locations in Manchester, NH and Hull,
MA, is an independently owned and operated company specializing
in construction waste removal and recycling. For more
information visit www.dumpsterdepot.com.
Sugar Hill Speedway, New England’s premiere miniature
motorsports racing facility located in Weare, NH, is where
Caisse got his start in racing. Visit www.sugarhillspeedway.com
to learn more about the weekly racing action at Sugar Hill.
There will be many more competitive days for Sean Caisse and the
Motion Racing Team. Together they have proven that they are
solid competitors. They will get the opportunity to show their
metal at the Town Fair Tire 150 for the Busch North Series at
the Waterford Speedbowl on July 23, 2005. For more information
on the upcoming event visit www.speedbowl.com.
