ANDY
SANTERRE
MOTORSPORTS
SHINES
AT ELKO
SPEEDWAY
ASM Has
Overall
Solid
Weekend
in Elko
and Iowa
Events
When the
NASCAR
Busch
East
Series,
Grand
National
Division
competitors
made a
trip to
the
Midwest
for a
double-header
event
where
they
would be
competing
with
their
NASCAR
West
Series
counterparts,
Elko
Speedway
in
Minnesota
and Iowa
Speedway
were two
uncharted
circuits
for both
series.
Even
though
the
Midwestern
swing
was a
new
addition
to the
series'
schedule,
Andy
Santerre
Motorsports
found
themselves
in a
very
familiar
place at
an
unfamiliar
racetrack
--
victory
lane at
Elko
Speedway.
During
the
first
event of
the
Busch
East and
West
Series
double-header
at Elko,
Sean
Caisse
and his
No. 44
Casella
Waste
Systems
Chevrolet
brought
ASM back
to
victory
lane.
"My real
goal
coming
into
this
race was
just a
top-five
finish,
so a win
is a
huge
bonus
for us,"
said
Caisse.
"We are
points
racing,
and
we're
trying
to
finish
these
races
and come
home
with the
championship.
I
learned
a lot
last
season.
We won
three
races,
but I'd
give
them all
up to
win a
championship.
It was
just an
awesome,
awesome
racecar
tonight."
ASM team
owner
Andy
Santerre
was
equally
pleased
with the
team's
performance
at Elko.
Between
Caisse's
victory
and DEI
Development
Driver
Jeffrey
Earnhardt's
solid
run
before
getting
struck
by bad
luck in
the ASM-prepared
No. 11,
team
Santerre
was a
force in
Elko.
"The
weekend
started
off
great
for us,"
said
Santerre.
"We had
some
good
runs on
Friday
night.
Both
cars
were in
the top
three in
practice
before
the Elko
event,
and Sean
was able
to sit
on the
pole
with
Jeffrey
right
behind
him in
third.
"The win
with the
Casella
car was
a good
boost
for the
team and
gave us
a lot of
momentum
going
into
Iowa.
Jeffrey
had a
little
hard
luck
Friday
night,
and
ended up
coming
home
24th,
but he
had a
good
racecar
throughout
the
day."
After
the Elko
Speedway
event,
the
Busch
East and
West
Series
teams
headed
over to
the Iowa
Speedway
to
complete
the
double-header
weekend.
ASM's
momentum
would
come up
a little
short at
Iowa,
but any
day a
team can
walk
away
with a
decent
day in
points,
it is
considered
a good
day.
"At
Iowa,
both of
the cars
were
really
good in
practice,"
added
Santerre.
"Both
teams
were
confident
that we
had shot
at the
win.
Sean was
able to
put the
car up
front,
and
speed-wise,
we were
right up
there
with
(eventual
winner)
Joey
Logano
and
Kevin
Harvick.
"We had
some
tire
issues
develop
in the
race
with
Sean's
car and
we
thought
that we
had them
fixed,
but the
tire
blew and
we drove
it into
the
wall. We
were
able to
get back
out
there,
but we
knew
that we
were not
going to
be a
contender
after
that. We
thought
that we
could go
out
there
and
finish
the
race,
but then
we ended
up
breaking
and the
Casella
car's
day was
over."
Earnhardt,
in his
ASM-prepared
machine,
was
looking
to bring
home a
top-10
finish,
but an
incident
in front
of him
left him
with
nowhere
to go.
He was
able to
rebound
from the
incident
and
bring
home a
solid
top-20
finish.
"Jeffrey
had a
good run
going.
He was
breaking
into the
top-10
with 20
laps to
go. Two
cars
that he
was
about to
pass got
together
and put
him into
the
wall. He
was able
to come
back to
finish
18th.
"It
wasn't
too bad
of a
weekend
because
the
points
were
divided
separately
with the
West and
East. We
are
still up
there
with the
points.
We
gained a
lot on
Friday,
and
didn't
lose too
many on
Sunday.
It's a
tight
points'
battle,
and we
get one
mulligan
and we
had it
this
weekend.
But if
you are
going to
have it,
this is
the
place to
have it.
We will
just get
everything
ready to
go and
head to
South
Boston."
Both
Sean
Caisse
and
Jeffrey
Earnhardt
will be
out to
continue
their
solid
seasons
in their
ASM-prepared
machines
when the
NASCAR
Busch
East
Series
heads to
South
Boston
Speedway
on
Saturday,
June
2nd.
For more
information
on Andy
Santerre
Motorsports,
contact
Amy
Hayes at
(704)
788-2134
and
visit
the new
online
home of
ASM
coming
soon to
www.andysanterremotorsports.com |
