Santerre adds new role: mentor Mainer crew chief for 15-year-old

Cherryfield’s Andy Santerre has another job and one that could be extremely rewarding.

Santerre, the team owner for Sean Caisse on the Busch East (formerly Busch North) series this coming season, is the new crew chief for 15-year-old Joey Logano in the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Southern Division series.

Santerre originally was hired by Joe Gibbs Racing as a consultant for Logano, a role he began six weeks ago.

Logano, a native of Middletown, Conn., signed a seven-year contract with Joe Gibbs Racing last summer and appears to be on the fast track to the Busch Series and then the Nextel Cup Series.

Logano raced 13 times between the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Southern and Northern Division series last year and had six top-five finishes, including a victory at the Mansfield 250 in Mansfield, Ohio.

He has run four Southern Division races this season and has already gone to Victory Lane at the South Georgia 250. Santerre was a consultant for that race. He is seventh in points.

Santerre made his crew chief debut 10 days ago and guided Logano to an eighth-place finish at the Naturally Fresh 250 at the Peach State Speedway in Jefferson, Ga.

Santerre said Logano is a special talent.

“He’s the real deal, no doubt about it. He’s the best I’ve seen in a long time, talent-wise. For his age, he’s amazing,” said Santerre. “He’s a heckuva’ wheelman. If we can get the car [set-up] close, he’ll run up front. It doesn’t have to be perfect. He’ll make up for it.”

Santerre said his first race as a crew chief went well.

“I was a little nervous at first but once the race got going, I felt real comfortable. It was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it,” said Santerre, who added that Logano gave him “good feedback” during the race.

“Joey knows what he needs in order to go fast, He makes my job easier,” added Santerre.

Tom Logano, who oversees his son’s career, has been impressed with Santerre.

“Andy’s a pleasure to work with. He’s a real good guy. His communication skills are terrific and he’s very knowledgeable about cars. It could be a challenge working with a younger driver like Joey but Andy has done a great job with him. Joey looks up to him. He has a lot of respect for Andy,” said Tom Logano.

In fact, Logano said they would like to lock Santerre into a long-term commitment.

He said Santerre “called a great race” in his debut and his son “ran a great race” as he went from 17th to eighth in the final eight laps after bumping a lapped car while running third and being sent to the back of the pack.

Santerre will continue to prepare four cars for 2005 Busch Series Rookie of the Year Caisse at their Grizco Racing Team shop during the week. The opener is June 10.

He said there are only two conflicts between the two series. Santerre may also be the spotter or crew chief for Caisse.

There are 12 Hooters Southern Division races followed by a six-race championship series involving the top 30 finishers in each (Southern and Northern) division. Logano also will run a few Northern Division races.

Santerre isn’t sure what the future holds after this season but if things go well with Logano, he said he would give serious consideration to staying with him as he moves up the NASCAR ladder.