Santerre to race ‘Old School’ vs. NASCAR giants Cherryfield native to drive on new tour against likes of Pearson, Gant

Cherryfield’s Andy Santerre will get to race with some of the former giants in auto racing in the new Old School Racing Championships Tour next year.

David Pearson, who has 105 Nextel Cup wins and three points championships; Harry Gant and Geoffrey Bodine, who each have 18 Cup victories, will be among the retired drivers who have signed up to be in the series.

There will be 10 races, but each driver will only be able to run in six of them. Points will be awarded based on their five best finishes.

The series is for drivers who are retired and semi-retired that have won Cup, Busch or Craftsman Truck series races along with series champions from ARCA, CART and Indy Car along with previous Indy 500 winners.

Santerre won the NAPA Auto Care 250 Busch race on July 24, 1999, at Pikes Peak International Speedway in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Races will be held on tracks three-quarters of a mile or shorter, and the races will be 100 laps or less depending on the size of the track. The cars will all have the same engines and bodies.

The top 10 drivers in points will qualify for the Championship race to be held Feb. 12 at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway. Drivers who finished Nos. 11-30 in points will run in a Last Chance race the night before the Championship race, and the top 10 finishers will qualify for the Championship race.

The series-opening race will be held May 18 at Concord (N.C.) Speedway.

“It should be fun,” said the 39-year-old Santerre. “I’ll be one of the youngest guys in the series and I’ll get a chance to say I raced with David Pearson. Some of those names are huge in NASCAR. Running side-by-side with them in a bunch of races and getting to know them will be a blast.

“And what I like about it is some of these guys have been forgotten by people my age because they haven’t been around for a long time. Getting them back in the spotlight will be real cool. They deserve it. They paid their dues. By getting them back to the track, new race fans will get to learn about them. They were a big part of NASCAR history.”

He noted that scheduled autograph sessions will give fans the chance to know the drivers.

Each driver will also drive for a charity of their choice as well as for themselves.

“The winner of the Championship race will earn $250,000 for themselves and another $250,000 for their charity,” said Santerre.

Everyone else will earn $3,000, he said.

Santerre said the payouts for the Last Chance race will be the same as they will be for the races leading up to the final weekend: $20,000 for the winner, $10,000 for second place, $7,000 for third and $3,000 for everyone else.

In addition to racing, Santerre’s Andy Santerre Motorsports Team will again have at least one driver in the Busch East series as Santerre has signed a one-year deal with Richard Childress Racing to put Childress’ grandson, Austin Dillon, in a Busch East car.

The 17-year-old Dillon has raced in the Bandolero and Legends Cars series as well as in dirt short track series.

Santerre said he’s also working on a second deal which would put another driver in a Busch East car for ASM.

Casella Waste Systems Inc. would be an associate sponsor.

“Austin has a lot of talent. He’s raced for a long time,” said Santerre. “He runs 50 races a year, which is more than I ever raced.”

Santerre helped guide Sean Caisse and rookie Jeffrey Earnhardt to second- and fifth-place finishes in the Busch East points standings this past year. It was the second straight year Caisse finished second.

Caisse won four races, second only to points champion Joey Logano’s five, and had a series-high five poles in 13 races and led the most laps.

“Sean really came on strong at the end of the year. He didn’t finish lower than second in the last four races. Jeffrey really improved and did an awesome job,” said Santerre.

Caisse is looking for a Truck series ride next year and Earnhardt has returned to race team Dale Earnhardt Inc.

Santerre had been Caisse’s crew chief, but he will relinquish that role next season to spend more time on the cars.