Santerre to direct multi-car Busch North team

Cherryfield’s Andy Santerre will be the general manager of a multi-car Busch North team and may also drive full time for it.

Santerre has been hired by Freeport residents Steve and Peg Griswold to run Grizco Racing, which is moving its race shop from Burlington, Vt. to Concord, N.C. this week.

The 36-year-old Santerre will oversee the fortunes of the No. 55 Burnham Boilers Monte Carlo driven by Mike Stefanik along with Brad Leighton’s part-time ride in the Irving Oil/Mainway Monte Carlo.

Stefanik will run the entire Busch North series and Leighton, for the second straight year, will run just six races.

Santerre explained that he and the Griswolds are looking to land a primary sponsor so he can also drive full time and try to collect his fourth consecutive Busch North Series points championship.

If they can’t get a primary sponsor, Santerre will be Stefanik’s crew chief.

“We’re working hard to get a deal. We’re making headway but I wouldn’t say we’re close right now. I do have a three-race deal with Castle Chemical as an associate sponsor,” said Santerre.

“I’m real excited about it. I really feel we’re going to get the sponsorship so I’ll be able to run the entire series,” said Santerre. “I’m real excited about running the shop, being the general manager and getting to build some new cars. It’s another step for me. It’s a new challenge.”

He would like each driver to have three cars.

The trio of Santerre, Leighton and Stefanik has combined to win seven of the last eight Busch North points titles.

“What I feel best about is that Mike and Brad, even if I drive full time for the team, have enough faith in me to still want me to prepare their cars for them,” said Santerre. “They know I’ll make sure we all have equal equipment. There won’t be any favoritism. I’m not going to take the good stuff for myself.”

In fact, Santerre said he and four other full-time employees are going to begin setting up their new race shop and working on the cars for Stefanik and Leighton this week.

“I may have to use the older equipment [in his cars] if we’re late [landing a primary sponsor],” said Santerre, who will hire one more team member this week.

Santerre had other offers before he signed with Grizco, including driving part time for a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team or working in a NASCAR Nextel Cup race shop.

“But when this deal was offered to me, it was an opportunity to see if I could run a three-car operation,” said Santerre.

Santerre said the Griswolds have owned race teams for 12 years and he has known them since 1995.

“They have always run top-notch organizations,” said Santerre, who drove for Scarborough’s Joe Bessey the previous two seasons.

But Bessey has several other business ventures and has gotten out of racing.

Santerre also said if he can’t drive full time for Grizco Racing, he would like to drive three or four Craftsman Truck Series races “but only on weekends when Busch North isn’t racing.”

He said he wants to keep his hand in driving but he also wants to do everything he can to run a championship-caliber multi-car team.