Caisse to defend victory at Greenville-Pickens
Busch East series returns Saturday


 

By Ann Green
STAFF WRITER
agreen@greenvillenews.com

Sean Caisse will return to Greenville-Pickens Speedway this Saturday, remembering the place as special and knowing what his performance there last year did for his racing career.

Caisse, 21, plans to defend his 2006 victory at GPS in the NASCAR Grand National Division, Busch East Series when it comes back to the historic half-mile track to open the 21st season of the series.

Caisse, who drives the No. 44 Casella Waste Systems Chevrolet, got his first win in the series at GPS last June.

It was a warm night when David Pearson, the three-time NASCAR Nextel Cup champion and Spartanburg resident, paid a visit to the paved oval where his name is on the wall of honor along the backstretch as a former champion at Greenville-Pickens.

Pearson shook hands with the drivers before the race, including Caisse.

The young driver then went out and turned some heads by winning his first race with Andy Santerre Motorsports.

Caisse admits he likes revisiting the accomplishment, captured that night for high-definition TV and broadcast by HDNet on satellite/cable to a nationwide audience.

"The past couple of weeks, I've watched the race a couple of times to review how the race transpired and stuff," he said.

The Busch East Series is essentially a farm system for some of the best drivers in the country as they try to climb the ladder and make it to NASCAR's second tier of racing.

Caisse, a Pelham, N.H., native who now makes his home in Charlotte, led roughly a third of the 150-lap event. He stayed in the Top 5, swapped the lead with Ryan Moore in the late going and figured out what to do on a late-race caution that brought the field back together.

Employing some restart savvy well beyond his years in racing and being just plain lucky besides, he provided as exciting a finish as GPS fans will ever witness.

Caisse went low on the first turn with Moore on the outside. Their cars touched along with other cars, and Moore spun. On the final restart, Caisse held off drivers including Brian Hoar, Mike Olsen, who was first in qualifying, and Byron Chew.

"There was some hitting, some three-wide racing. I'm sure it was spectacular for the fans, never mind to be out there racing," said Caisse.

"I think the fans can expect the same type of racing this year, the same type of show. There's a lot of new young talent coming into the series, and I think the competition level is going to jump up extremely high," he said.

Caisse won by .268 of a second over Hoar. Olsen, who would go on to be the 2006 series champion, finished third that night.

Caisse, the 2005 NASCAR Busch North rookie of the year, was runner-up for the Busch East championship in 2006. He had a total of three victories in 2006 and has had seven poles, 10 Top 5 finishes and 17 Top 10's in 27 career starts.

But he didn't use his winnings from that break-through race at GPS to buy the HD TV he now watches.

"When we were assembling the car before the race, I'd never won a race, and I told Andy Santerre that I'd buy him a set of rims for his truck if I won," he said.

Caisse made good on the promise.

Asked what he learned during his sophomore season, a season that included his first win at GPS, Caisse said, "I learned that consistency wins championships. Mike Olsen kind of took me to school last year. We were the car to beat every race. We had one bad race the fourth race of the season and played catch-up. But I learned consistency."

He has learned about tire management, the importance of qualifying in the Top 5 and what it means to finish strong if not necessarily win the race.

"I want to finish every lap this year, get a bunch of top fives and top 10s," he said. "I'd rather have the championship and sacrifice a few wins if I have to."