Cherryfield’s Andy Santerre has signed a deal with Dale Earnhardt Incorporated and will have the late NASCAR Nextel Cup champion’s grandson, Jeffrey, driving for him in the Busch East series this season.

Jeffrey Earnhardt is the son of Kerry Earnhardt, Dale’s eldest son.

Kerry Earnhardt drove in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series last season and has also run in the Busch and Nextel Cup series. He recently signed with DEI to handle a variety of administrative duties. He is the half-brother of Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Jeffrey Earnhardt, who is 17, will team up with Sean Caisse, a 21-year-old from Pelham, N.H., who finished second in points in the Busch East series last season.

Earnhardt has driven late model cars and in the General Motors Development program.

Santerre was Caisse’s crew chief and the two collaborated for a series-leading five poles and three victories. They had six top-five finishes and eight top-10s.

“I’m looking forward to it,” said Santerre. “It’s going to be a challenge. There’s going to be a lot of media attention and focus on our team. That happens any time you put the Earnhardt name out there. But I’m up for the challenge.”

Both teams will be housed in the Andy Santerre Motorsports shop in Harrisburg, N.C.

Santerre explained that DEI will supply the engines and the crew chief for Earnhardt but he will provide the cars [bodies] and “I’ll be doing the program for him.

“It will be up to me to make sure when the cars leave here, they will be well-prepared and ready to compete,” said Santerre.

Santerre will again be the crew chief for Caisse and said he will “work side-by-side” with Earnhardt’s crew chief, who has yet to be determined.

“He can lean on me and I’ll lean on him,” said Santerre, noting that they will share information like any other multi-car team.

“The good thing is that we’ll be able to get some engine help from DEI and will have access to things we didn’t have access to before like used parts, sheet metal and stuff like that. And any time we have a question, we can lean on them,” said Santerre.

Santerre has met Jeffrey Earnhardt once and was impressed.

“He seems like a real nice kid. He’s really quiet and reserved. They say he has a lot of talent. He has the right bloodline. DEI and Chevrolet have confidence in him and if they do, that tells me he can drive,” said Santerre.

DEI will sponsor the No. 1 car to be driven by Earnhardt.

Casella Waste Systems is returning to sponsor Caisse and the No. 44 Chevy.

Santerre expects Caisse to make another run for a points championship but said “there are going to be a lot of new teams and a lot of competition. A lot of these new teams are affiliated with [Nextel] Cup and Busch teams.”

A revamped 13-race Busch East schedule starts with a race at the Greenville-Pickens Speedway in South Carolina on April 28. The next three races will be in Elko, Minn., Newton, Iowa, and South Boston, Va., the first time Busch East has raced at each of those tracks.

There will be another first-time race in Nashville, Tenn., later in the season in addition to the usual stops in Loudon, N.H. (2); Stafford Springs, Thompson, and Lime Rock, Conn.; Mansfield, Ohio; Dover, Del., and Lowville, N.Y.

“It’s going to be better. I think the series is going to take off,” said Santerre.

Santerre also announced that last weekend’s third annual charity snowmobile run in Caribou, the Andy Santerre Snow Run, raised $25,087 for the Aroostook Mental Health Center’s sexual assault team.

“We had 95 riders, the most ever,” said Santerre, whose list of riders included Caisse and Mike Olsen, who won the Busch East points title last season.

There was also a NASCAR auction and dinner that had an overflow turnout, according to Santerre.