Santerre not driving this season Cherryfield native is owner for Caisse team

Cherryfield’s Andy Santerre, who captured his fourth consecutive Busch North points championship last season, will switch gears this season and will not be driving.

Santerre, who managed the three-car Grizco Racing Team in addition to driving for it last season, will be the team owner for Sean Caisse, the Busch North Rookie of the Year in 2005.

Caisse drove for the Casella Waste Systems team which will continue to sponsor him.

Steve and Peg Griswold, who own Grizco Racing, have decided to leave the series after 18 years and five championships but they will have a business development partnership with Santerre’s ASM (Andy Santerre Motorsports) organization.

The 37-year-old Santerre will receive an opportunity to assess what direction he wants his career to take.

“We’ll see how it goes. This will give me time to think about what I want to do. Maybe I’ll go back racing after this year; continue with this deal or do something else.”

Santerre explained that they have had a “hard time” lining up sponsors and Burnham Boilers, the primary sponsor for Mike Stefanik’s Chevy Monte Carlo, “decided not to come back with us.”

Stefanik finished second in points to Santerre in 2005 and Brad Leighton ran six events for the Grizco Racing team.

Santerre didn’t have a primary sponsor last year and they hadn’t signed a sponsorship deal for Leighton’s team either.

“So we had three cars and no sponsors. When that happened, Steve and I had to decide what to do,” said Santerre. “We decided it would be too much money for Steve to spend out of his own pocket, especially when you consider that there is a short schedule [11 races so far for this coming season] and nobody’s sure which way the series is going.

“There have been a lot of changes in the rules and in the tracks. There aren’t any races in Maine and Steve and Peg live in Maine,” added Santerre.

Santerre had signed a two-year deal with the Griswolds last year and he said they were willing to pay him for this season even if he didn’t race.

He added that the Griswolds gave him the green light to sell off all the equipment in their race shop in Harrisburg, N.C. if he so desired.

“But if I was getting paid, I might as well be working,” explained Santerre, who considers the Griswolds to be great friends. “We hashed it over for two days and came up with this deal. This was the best choice for me.”

Caisse had been searching for a team and was willing to bring his sponsor with him so they formed their alliance.

Santerre will own the team while acting as a “sub-contractor” for Grizco Racing.

Caisse, a Pelham, N.H. native who just turned 20, will move to Harrisburg, N.C. and work for Santerre at the race shop as they prepare for the Busch East series season. NASCAR has changed the name from Busch North to Busch East.

“The goal will be to help Sean win races, win a points championship and move up to the next level [Busch or the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series],” said Santerre.

“Sean is a real good driver. He is one of the most naturally talented racers I’ve seen in a long time. And he has a lot of racing miles. He has raced as much as I have and he’s only 20. He’s a nice kid and a lot of people [in the racing industry] are already looking at him. He has a good shot to move on,” said Santerre.

Caisse finished seventh overall in points with two top-five finishes among his seven top-10s in 13 races.

Santerre said Caisse has asked him to “spot” for him during the race. But Santerre could also become his crew chief and he said he is flexible concerning his role.