Beaver Falls, NY:  The Edge Hotel 150 at Adirondack International Speedway for the NASCAR Grand National Division, Busch North Series featured a little bit of everything for rookie racer Sean Caisse of Pelham, NH.  On Saturday night (July 30), Caisse was penalized and even victimized but the young driver persevered to come home on the lead lap in the 13^th position.

 

"It was a crazy race," said Caisse. "That is all I can say…it was a crazy race."

 

Caisse ran as high as sixth on two occasions during the event. With fresher tires in the waning laps the rookie had the potential to score his first top-five finish.

 

"My car worked beautifully tonight," said Caisse.  "We were really going to have a good finish here before all the fireworks late in the race.  In the last ten laps I was running right with Mike Olsen. I think that we really had something for the big guns tonight."

 

The afternoon started out when the respectable qualifying run that was to have placed Caisse eleventh on the starting grid was negated by a penalty assessed by NASCAR.  A one-pound dolly, used during the week at the shop to do bodywork on the Motion Racing Monte Carlo, was inadvertently left on the car during time trials.  The existence of a “non-approved part” necessitated the penalty. 

 

Caisse took the penalty in stride and went to work making up the positions on the racetrack.  In the first 20 laps of the event, Caisse had passed nearly 15 cars.  By lap 40, the Trik Custom Sleds #5 sat inside the top ten.  Caisse had made it up to the sixth position when contact with Mike Johnson sent him spinning.  Johnson was assessed a penalty for his involvement in the incident. Caisse had to restart from the tail of the field.

 

Not shaken, Caisse set out to for the front of the field once again.  It took him the bulk of the remaining 100 plus laps but Caisse did get back inside the top ten.

 

"I think we came through the field from the back like three or four times," said Caisse.  "It is so frustrating to have such a great car and come away like we did."

 

He was in sixth position again when trouble arose with Johnson for the second time.  With only four laps remaining the two tangled, sending Caisse spinning. He quickly regained his composure, kept the car running, and made it back up into the eighth position. It was all for naught; however, as contact with Ryan Seaman on the final lap of the event sent him spinning again. Caisse was relegated to a 13^th place finish.

 

"The incident with Ryan was a racing thing but it was the icing on the cake," said Caisse, with some humor.  "But I guess when a 13^th place finish is a bad day, overall you are doing something right."

 

"I think that we proved tonight that we are not going to give up," continued Caisse.  "My pit crew gives me 110% in the good times and the bad.  We had a decent pit stop out there and that played a major role in our recoveries.  I am frustrated that I could not have brought them home the top finish that I know we should have had."

 

Maine Drilling and Blasting, who extended their association with Caisse and the Motion Racing team at Adirondack, will remain on board as an associate sponsor for the next event as well. 

 

Maine Drilling & Blasting of Gardiner, ME safely fashions foundations for homes, businesses, developments, roads, bridges, underground utilities with the controlled use of explosives. To learn more about the company who "sets earth shattering standards" log on to their website at www.mdandb.com. 

 

The next race for the Caisse and the NASCAR Grand National Division, Busch North Series comes up on Wednesday, August 10, 2005 at the Stafford Motor Speedway in Stafford Springs, CT. Visit www.staffordspeedway.com for event information.