Caisse Finishes Rookie BNS Season on High Note at Thompson

Pelham, NH:  There is something special about Thompson International Speedway for Sean Caisse of Pelham, NH.  The rookie driver from Pelham, NH capped off his outstanding rookie season in the Busch North Series in fine fashion at Thompson this Sunday during the World Series of Stock Car Racing.  Caisse earned his second Busch Pole Award of the season and second top-five finish on the 5/8^th mile oval.  Caisse also received the Featherlite Most Improved Driver Award along with his eighth Sunoco Rookie of the Race Award, officially making the 19-year old the Grand National Division, Busch North Series 2005 Rookie-of-the-Year.

"I have always enjoyed racing at Thompson, " said Caisse, who ran at Thompson with the Modified Tour, the NEMA Midgets, and for a short time in the NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series.  "It gets more special to me every time we come here. "

On Saturday during Busch Pole qualifying Caisse posted a lap of 20.427 seconds at 110.148 MPH to top one of the strongest Busch North fields of the 2005 season. 

"The crew gave me a great car, " continued Caisse.  "I knew even before I got out of the car that we had a good lap. "

The Busch Pole Award is the third of his career in NASCAR Touring competition. The first-ever came at none other than Thompson in the Whelen Modified Tour in 2004. 

Caisse started the event on Sunday evening from the pole position but was edged out for the lead in the first four laps by eventual race winner Eddie MacDonald.  Caisse bounced back and into the lead on lap five.  Unfortunately, his stay at the top was short-lived relinquishing the lead once again to MacDonald on lap eight. 

After drifting back slightly, Caisse settled into the sixth position.  Under green flag racing, slowly he began to work his way back into the top five.  On lap 29, Caisse was solidly inside the top-five.  The young driver spent many laps shadowing multi-time champion Mike Stefanik.

At the halfway marker, Caisse continued to run in the top five with the likes of Jerry Marquis, Stefanik, and Mike Olson.  A number of cautions and red flags later in the race shuffled the running order; Caisse had been running third before losing the spot to Olson on lap 79.  

"It got a little nerve racking for me during the red flags,” said Caisse. "We were having trouble getting the car to refire.  We had to get the assistance of the track crew a couple of times. Thankfully we were able to keep going. " 

The final caution of the event flew on lap 93 to set up a green-white-checker dash to the finish. Over the final two laps, Caisse ran fender to fender with Olson for third but had to settle for the fourth position at the checkers. 

"It was a fun night at the races,” said Caisse with a smile,  " and a great way to end the season.  I am so proud of this whole Casella Waste Services Team. "

Sean Caisse ended his Rookie season with two top-five and seven top-ten finishes in 13 starts to earn seventh-place finish in the final Busch North Series point standings.

" Now we are ready for Irwindale, " said Caisse, of the impending trip to the Toyota All-Star Showdown. 

Caisse and the Casella Waste Services team will participate in the third annual Toyota All-Star Showdown. The post-season invitational event finds the best of the best from the NASCAR Elite and Grand National divisions competing for nearly $500,000 in prize money.  The fields will be comprised of the top-10 drivers from the Midwest, Northwest, Southeast and Southwest Series along with the top 15 drivers from the Busch North and West Series.

Qualifying begins on Friday night, November 11 with Twin 50s. The main event will be held on Saturday evening at 8 PM. All the action will be covered live on SPEED Channel.  Live coverage begins on Friday at 11:00 p.m. (ET) and resumes on Saturday at 8:00 p.m. (ET).