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The  "Racing For Clean Air" Team Captain Andy SanterreHits High Gear |
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| By KEITH McSHEA News Sports Reporter 6/27/2004 Andy Santerre is the two-time defending champion of the NASCAR Busch North series, and he showed why Saturday night at Holland International Speedway. After starting 11th, Santerre made several bold passes and went on to lead the final 50 laps to win the Sunoco 150 before an estimated 8,000 at the three-eighth-mile oval. It was the third win for Santerre after six races of the 15-race season, and he increased his points lead to 39 over Mike Olsen after taking the checkered flag at Holland .417 seconds ahead of Olsen. Santerre, who won at Holland in 2002, was eager to improve his performance at Holland after taking eighth last year. "Last year, we had high hopes and we were really disappointed," said Santerre, a 35-year-old native of Cherryfield, Maine, who resides in North Carolina. "The guys were concerned coming back here, and I said, "Don't worry, I know what was wrong. It was just messed up and it won't happen again.' "Last year, we had a different engine and the tires wouldn't keep up with the engine, so I was spinning my wheels all the way around the racetrack. This year, we softened the back of the car up to give it some more bite, and that seemed to be what it needed." Dave Dion earned his 22nd career Busch North pole - his first at Holland despite three wins from 1995 to 1997 - as he sped to a lap of 92.510 mph (14.593 seconds). However, Dion was shuffled back on the first lap as Mike Johnson - who started fourth - and fellow front-row starter Olsen moved past. Dion finished eighth. Santerre escaped early traffic to move from 11th to sixth place after 15 laps and was fourth after 30. From there, Santerre stalked several drivers before inevitably passing them. First was Kelly Moore, and the veterans had a nice battle before Santerre finally completed the pass for third on lap 62. Next was Olsen, whom Santerre passed for second place on lap 70. Santerre's next pass had action befitting a battle for the lead, as he worked Johnson for about 10 laps with the pair often going side-by-side. The duo made contact in Turn Two on lap 100 before bumping in the backstretch and locking tires in an accident that caused Johnson to spin out. The spinning Johnson made contact with the wall as well as the oncoming car of Olsen, leaving Johnson's front end mangled and Olsen - who drove through the grass inside Turn Three to avoid a major crash - with a small bit of damage to his rear. "I think it was one of those racing deals where I got down under there, and he had been protecting the bottom pretty heavily," said Santerre. "Coming off the bottom off (Turn) Two it was tough to stay down there without slipping the rear wheels. So I got back on the throttle and I slipped a little bit, and he was trying to hold me down, and I think we rubbed tires. When our tires hit, it kinda shot him to the right. It was unfortunate for him." From there, Santerre was too strong for Olsen, surviving two yellow-flag restarts, including a green-white-checkered finish prompted by a caution in lap 148 after Eddie MacDonald blew a tire. In a race in which all 24 cars remained on the track to the finish, Kelly Moore finished third one place ahead of his son, Ryan, with Tim Andrews taking fifth. Five winners in Holland's regular weekly series included late model points leader Vern Bliss of Arcade. Bliss took the lead from T.J. Johnson of South Wales with three laps to go in the 20-lap feature to finish ahead of Shawn Dunning of Pavilion (second) and Johnson (third). In the pro modifieds, Springville's Steve Kreitzbender, who blew an engine on his No. 99 car during qualifying, drove John Gast's No. 9 car to his first win. Other winners were John Grandits of Colden (Chargers), Bob Slippy of East Concord (Pro Fours) and Nick Schaefer of Buffalo (figure eights). ----- View this article online at: http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20040627/1013015.asp |
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