FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
CONTACT:
Matt Kentfield,
51 Sports
(704) 455-2051,
matt@dsportsgroup.com
Sean Caisse Wins
Fifth Pole;
Finishes 22nd
at Dover
20-Year-Old
Secures NASCAR
Busch East
Season's Bud
Pole Award
CONCORD, NC (September
25, 2006)
-- When a race
team has the
impressive
streak of strong
qualifying
efforts and
solid finishes
the way Sean
Caisse and the
Andy Santerre
Motorsports team
had at the
outset of the
2006 NASCAR
Busch East
Series season,
they may seem
invincible.
Even though the
ASM team
continued to go
in to each race
with the same
level of
preparation and
determination,
the last three
events at
Waterford
Speedbowl, New
Hampshire
International
Speedway, and
this past Friday
afternoon at
Dover
International
Speedway did not
quite go
according to
plans for the
Casella-backed
#44 team.
The Dover
weekend started
out perfectly,
as the
20-year-old
Caisse stormed
"The Monster
Mile" in
qualifying to
pick up his
fifth Bud Pole
Award of the
season, thus
clinching the
most poles of
all the drivers
this year. Even
in the race,
Caisse was in
contention to
win.
Unfortunately,
the good luck
ran out late in
the event, as a
mechanical
problem
internally on
the #44 caused
the young driver
to scrape the
wall, causing
damage that put
the team behind
the pit wall for
the remainder of
the day.
Caisse was
credited with a
22nd-place
finish at Dover.
"The
car was on the
tight side all
day. I don't
know if we had a
shot at winning
or not, but I
was saving my
stuff there for
the end," said
Caisse. "I
drove it into
(turns) one and
two hard on top
and all of a
sudden something
let go in the
front end.
Apparently, on
the upper
A-frame, there's
supposed to be
steel slugs in
there and one of
them was
aluminum. It
was starting to
pivot its way
out and it wound
up breaking. We
went up and
tagged the wall
and then, all of
a sudden,
something broke.
Going into
turns three and
four, the car
didn't turn at
all and the
A-frame actually
disconnected
from the chassis
on the right
front."
Caisse traded
the lead
back-and-forth
with Tim Andrews
from the start
of the race, but
found himself
back in control
when a caution
flag flew just a
few laps short
of the race's
halfway point.
It was time for
Caisse to come
to the attention
of the ASM crew
for tires and
fuel, but a
miscommunication
between
officials and
the team caused
Caisse to miss
the opening of
pit road,
forcing him to
pit a lap later
than the rest of
the leaders.
"That pit road
situation was a
tough deal.
NASCAR said that
pit road was
closed when I
was on the
backstretch and
I called in to
my spotter right
before we got to
pit road and
asked if he was
sure pit road
was closed. The
light was red
and he told me
that they hadn't
said anything to
him. Right as I
went by the
commitment
cones, it went
green. It was
really
unfortunate that
it put us back
there. It
didn't screw us
up that much
though. With so
few cars on the
lead lap, I
think we still
came out 12th."
With a new set
of Goodyear
tires on his #44
machine, Caisse
began picking up
spots one by
one, eventually
working his way
back up to the
top-five when
the mechanical
problems arose
and put Caisse
out of the race,
35 laps short of
its conclusion.
With the recent
string of bad
luck, Caisse is
not giving up
and neither is
the Andy
Santerre
Motorsports
team. There is
still one more
points race
remaining, this
Saturday's
season finale on
the Lime Rock
Park (CT) road
course. And
although he is
now 109 points
out of the
championship
lead, there is
still an air of
strength to the
entire ASM team.
"We've done our
best all year.
I think
(championship
leader Mike)
Olsen basically
just has to keep
his car out of
trouble and
he'll have the
thing wrapped
up. That is
just what
happens though;
it's tough luck.
We've had a
good year. We
just need to
stay positive.
We'll go to Lime
Rock next week
and get a solid
run. We've got
to protect
second place in
the standings at
least at this
point. You
never know what
can happen.
"I'm excited
about going back
to Lime Rock.
We went there
with a short
track car last
year and I think
we actually had
a top-five car.
Unfortunately
for us, the
brakes started
failing late in
the race, but we
still ended up
with a top-10
finish. I'm
just looking
forward to
running the
piece that Andy
built brand-new
last year. I'm
pretty
optimistic that
we'll be able to
get a good
finish.
Hopefully we can
rebound off of
the results of
the last two
weeks results
and stay focused
on what we have
to do.
"We need to
build a little
bit of momentum
back up. We've
had good runs
going into the
last three weeks
but they've been
shot. It
started at
Waterford and
continued all
the way into
Loudon and
finally Dover.
We need to stop
that. We know
that there are a
lot of things
that can happen
on a road
course, so we
just want to
stay out of
trouble and get
a respectable
result out of
it."
For more
information on
Andy Santerre
Motorsports and
Sean Caisse,
contact Matt
Kentfield at
(704) 455-2051
and visit the
all-new online
home of ASM,
www.andysanterremotorsports.com
