NASCAR’s only New England driver enjoyed Maine races

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LOUDON, N.H. – Kevin Lepage is the only remaining New England driver racing in the Nextel Cup series.

And the Shelburne, Vt., native, who drives for BAM Racing, spent three years living “near the ocean” in the Scarborough area while racing cars and doing excavation work.

“It’s been a number of years since I lived in Maine, but it still has a fond place in my heart,” said Lepage, who raced for Norsemen Inn Racing based in Ogunquit. “I was there in ’85, ’86, and ’87 and I really enjoyed it. I had a real good relationship with the Deering brothers [Robert and Gary]. They were the [managers] and crew chiefs of the team. Carl Merrill bought the team from the Deering brothers and gave me an opportunity to drive for him.

“In ’87, Peter Prescott bought into the team and he put Ricky Craven [of Newburgh] in the ride. So I started my own team again.”

He said he recalled spinning out Turner’s Mike Rowe in a heat race just to qualify for the Oxford 250 “around 20 years ago.”

“And a lot of those fans who were there when that was going on are my biggest supporters,” Lepage added.

He said Rowe “hated my guts [after the spinout], but now we’re best friends.”

Lepage began the season driving the No. 61 car for Peak Performance Racing before it was sold.

He eventually signed on with BAM Racing and is driving the No. 49 Dodge.

He has run 11 Cup races this season for his various teams but, as is the case for single-car teams, he has struggled. He is the fifth driver for BAM Racing this season.

He failed to qualify for the last two races but did make the field for the Lenox Industrial Tools 300. He started 38th and finished 30th.

Lepage’s best finish this season has been a 25th in the season-opening Daytona 500. He was driving the 61 for the AMP Energy Drink Ford.

“It’s been a challenge for the race team. They started the season with a rookie, Brent Sherman, and they missed a bunch of races [by failing to qualify]. When I came in here, we had a reorganization. I brought my crew chief with me [Greg Conner]. The cars were outdated. They weren’t right. The setups weren’t right,” said Lepage.

“So we approach every race as a test session. We’re preparing for the 2007 season. If we don’t make the race, we find the reason why we didn’t and we fix it for the next race. We don’t make excuses.”

He said it is virtually impossible for a one-car team to be successful on the Nextel Cup circuit.

The good news is BAM racing owners Tony and Beth Ann Morgenthau are in negotiations with “a couple of multi-car teams” and he is hoping they will join one of them for 2007.

“We need to be able to talk to people [teammates on a multi-car team] and find out the engine support, body support, wind tunnel support, and chassis support,” said Lepage, who hopes to know something “within 30 to 45 days.”

The Lenox Industrials Tools 300 will be the 190th career Nextel Cup start for Lepage, who has nine top-10 and two top-five finishes to his credit.

He said New Hampshire International Speedway is very special.

“It used to be the old Bryar Speedway. There was a five-eighth mile track along with a road course. I used to do the road race a couple of times a year and I’d also run the five-eighth mile [race]. I’ve especially liked racing for the Bahre family. I raced with them at Oxford Plains. I’ve had a great time with them,” said Lepage.

The Bahre family used to own Oxford Plains Speedway before they bought the track at Loudon and transformed it into New Hampshire International Speedway.

“To see them buy Bryar Speedway and turn it into this facility [has been amazing]. To see the growth and the money they have spent on it. To see the track configurations, the soft walls, the grandstands. They’re first-class people. That’s for sure,” said Lepage.

Burton aids Hurricanes’ growth

There are probably plenty of Carolina Hurricanes hockey fans among NASCAR drivers and team personnel since North Carolina is the home of most of the Nextel Cup and Busch teams.

The Hurricanes gave the state of North Carolina its first professional sports championship by winning the Stanley Cup this past season.

One Nextel Cup driver with a special attachment to the Hurricanes is Jeff Burton.

When the team moved from Hartford to Greensboro, N.C., and awaited a new facility which was eventually built in Raleigh, Burton was one of the celebrities who helped sell season tickets and promote the team.

“It’s really cool to be in the state in which there’s any kind of a champion,” said Burton. “Certainly the [NFL’s Carolina] Panthers have come close, and I think they have a really good chance this year.

“For hockey to be successful in North Carolina, who’d have [thought] it. And the following is huge. The Raleigh fans are avid about it. So it’s really been a good thing. It’s been a good product,” added Burton.

He said it was “a little bit hard” selling season tickets “because everybody knew in two years they were going to be going somewhere else.”

He said they would still have good crowds in Greensboro, “but in Raleigh they’ve had phenomenal crowds. It has been real good for North Carolina.”

He said he remembers dropping the ceremonial first puck with owner Peter Karmanos and hearing boos from angry Hartford fans who came down for the opener and expressed their displeasure with the move.

“I said, ‘Why are they booing? What did I do?'” chuckled Burton.

Burton lives more than two hours away in the Charlotte area and said he didn’t have the time to go to any Hurricanes games this season.

“I have season tickets to Duke [basketball games] games and that’s the same distance away and I go to only one game a year,” said Burton.

He followed the Hurricanes on TV and said it was “good for hockey to go to a seventh game [between Carolina and Edmonton]. That’s always good for all sports. That matchup was really close and good. It was cool.”

He said he got involved with the team because the Hurricanes were “trying to connect with the fans from North Carolina and, obviously, racing is pretty big in North Carolina.”

He said when the team first moved to North Carolina, the local fans thought Karmanos was a “subpar owner and he wasn’t going to be committed and money. And he’s proven them all wrong.”

Burton said he hadn’t been a hockey fan until he got involved promoting the franchise.

“I became one by going to games and watching,” said Burton.

Hot job

Mo Sodini was one of approximately 250 firefighters on hand to provide support at NHIS this past weekend.

They are required to wear their protective gear in the blistering 90-plus degree heat.

Sodini, a volunteer for the Greenland (N.H.) Fire Department, was in the garage area with a fire extinguisher, SpeedyDry, and a broom ready to put out any fires.

How does a firefighter in full gear deal with the heat?

“I drink a lot of water. As long as you keep going to the bathroom, you’re good. If you stop going to the bathroom, you’re not drinking enough,” said Sodini.

It is his third year working at NHIS on race weekends and he said he has yet to be forced to put out a fire.

“Normally, the crewmen take care of their own stuff. We’re pretty much here for precaution,” said Sodini.

He said he and the other 250 EMTs from across the Northeast meet and train at Loudon one day every June.

“It lasts 16 hours of training your first time and eight hours every time after that,” said Sodini.

He said he looks forward to the two Nextel Cup weekends every year.

“I like the racing. I like the atmosphere. I follow NASCAR anyway and this gets you more into it,” said Sodini, who, like the other 250, are hired by Speedway Safety Services.

Caisse sets sights on title

Sean Caisse, who finished second Friday in the Busch East series’ New England 125 race for the Andy Santerre Motorsports team, said he has one goal for this season: win the points championship.

The 20-year-old has two wins and two second-place finishes in six races and is in second place, 54 points behind Mike Olsen of North Haverhill, N.H.

Santerre, who is also his crew chief, is from Cherryfield and drove to the last four Busch East (formerly North) points championships.

“There’s nothing I can really, truly do this season except try to win a championship. I don’t want to try to get my feet wet in a Craftsman Truck ride or a Busch ride. It would take away from our [Busch East] program. I want to be 100 percent focused on our Busch East program.”

He said having a veteran champion like Santerre has been important.

“He’s there for me. I can go to Andy for advice any time. It has been a huge step for me and makes me feel pretty good,” said Caisse, who was the tour’s rookie of the year last season although he didn’t win a race.