Santerre eyes third straight Busch North title

Cherryfield’s Andy Santerre will begin his quest for a third consecutive Busch North Series points championship when the 15-race tour opens the season at Lee USA Speedway (N.H.) on Sunday.

“I think we’ve got a pretty good shot at a three-peat,” said the 35-year-old Santerre. “We’ve got pretty good equipment, we’re in the best shape we’ve been in financially and we’ve got more people [working for us] than we’ve ever had.”

He expects a highly competitive season in Busch North.

“We won’t have the car counts we had last year but we’ll have better competition than we’ve ever had. There are some great drivers and great cars. I don’t think anybody will win more than three races,” said Santerre, the only driver with three wins a year ago.

There are two fewer races than a year ago but that doesn’t bother Santerre.

“It’ll make it easier for the crew members. I think it’s going to be a great year,” said Santerre.

There are a number of drivers who headline the list of challengers for the points title.

“Mike Stefanik is always a tough points racer. He’s very consistent,” said Santerre. “Kelly Moore is always a threat to win at any racetrack. If he gets his stuff together for all the races and has some luck, he’ll contend. Ryan Moore ran real well all year. He was in the top five until he had some bad luck at the end of the year. If he doesn’t have the bad luck this year, he’ll be a contender.

“You can’t overlook Mike Johnson. He really came on at the end of the year. And Mike Olsen won a points championship and he has a great program and a great sponsor in Little Trees,” Santerre added.

Stefanik, Johnson and Scarborough’s Kelly Moore finished second, third and fifth in the Busch North points last year.

Olsen, the 2001 champ, wound up ninth and Raybestos Rookie of the Year Ryan Moore, Kelly’s son, finished 11th.

Stefanik won the points title in 1997 and 1998.

Santerre has five Chevy Monte Carlos ready to race and he has been working on them at team owner Joe Bessey’s race shop in North Carolina.

There are four other full-time employees, one more than last season.

“We’ve got two short-track cars, a car we run at New Hampshire [International Speedway], one we run at Dover [Del.] and one road-course car,” said Santerre.

He will run the short-track car he won with at Lee a year ago on Sunday.

Santerre won three of the series’ first four races in 2003 but didn’t win again.

“Hopefully, I’ll keep winning throughout the year,” said Santerre, whose team is sponsored by Aubuchon Hardware.

Former Busch Series regular Santerre will be running some other races in addition to the Busch North schedule.

He has a verbal agreement with the E.J. Prescott NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team to “maybe run a few short-track truck races in August or September. That may change. I may get into that earlier.”

E.J. Prescott Inc., a pipeline company, is based in Gardiner.

Veteran NASCAR Cup driver Geoffrey Bodine is currently in the EJP Chevy but Santerre indicated the team want to run a second truck in some races, including at New Hampshire International Speedway.

“I’ve raced a truck twice. I filled in halfway through a race in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, in 1997 when the driver got heat exhaustion and I drove one in Watkins Glen [N.Y.] in 2001 and finished 16th,” said Santerre.

He also intends to run the DNK 250 at Unity Raceway on June 13. It will pay $25,000 to win.

“I’ve known Doug White [of sponsor DNK Select Used Cars in Farmingdale] for a long time and he called me,” said Santerre.

Santerre explained that White wanted to supplement the local drivers by bringing in some “heavy hitters from outside and my name wound up in there. He wants to draw more of a crowd from up north and Down East.

“The last time I was in a pro stock car was 1997 and the last time I ran at Unity was in 1992,” said Santerre. “Just about every time I’ve run there, I’ve finished in the top five. It’s been a good track for me. I’m looking forward to it. It should be fun.”