The
"Racing For Clean Air" Team Captain Andy Santerre
Takes
His 5th Checkered Flag at NHIS
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LOUDON,
N.H. – Andy Santerre won an important victory and took a commanding
point lead in Monday’s Sylvania 125 presented by Lowe’s
at New Hampshire International Speedway. The 12th race of the 2004
NASCAR Grand National Division, Busch North Series schedule was
postponed on Saturday by rains from the remnants of Hurricane Ivan.
Santerre’s fifth victory of 2004 was the 21st of his career,
third on the all-time list, and his third at NHIS. It was the first
time he had reached victory lane at the series’ signature
track since returning full-time in 2002.
Santerre
started 11th, took the lead for the only time from darkhorse contender
Mike Gallo on lap 107, and led Paul Wolfe to the checkered flag
by 1.138 seconds. Ryan Moore and Dale Quarterley also passed Gallo,
who held on for a career-best fifth. Mike Johnson, Bobby Dragon,
Jerry Marquis, Joey McCarthy, and Brad Bennett completed the top
ten.
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After
Busch Pole winner Johnson led the first three laps, the majority
of the race belonged to Wolfe and Kelly Moore, who swapped the lead
three times before Gallo moved to the point on lap 83. Gallo’s
downfall was the loss of the lower gears in his transmission, which
made him slow on restarts. Santerre took over second place when
K. Moore pitted with a cut tire and made his move to the lead just
one lap after the green flag was shown on lap 106. Four laps later
a turn-four accident involving Jamie Aube and rookie Sean Caisse
brought out a 16-minute red flag for track cleanup work, No injuries
were reported.
Earlier,
Santerre’s nearest challenger in the point race, Mike Olsen,
Was forced into the inside wall near the flagstand on a jammed-up
restart, doing severe damage at both ends of the car. He returned
to the track but settled for 30th place. As a result, Santerre’s
lead opened from 82 points to a commanding 189 points with two races
remaining.
Santerre
averaged just 68.757 miles per hour as five caution periods consumed
49 laps. There were six lead changes among five drivers and 28 of
the 38 starters were running at the finish, with 19 on the lead
lap. Brian Hoar advanced from 33rd at the start to 11th at the finish
to earn the PowerAde Power Move of the Race Award, while Ryan Moore
was the Featherlite Most Improved Driver for turning a 33rd place
in the last race at Watkins Glen into a third at NHIS.
The
Busch North Series makes a quick turnaround for the MBNA America
150 this Friday, September 24, at Dover International Speedway in
Dover, Del.
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NASCAR
Busch North Series 2004 Top 5 Point Standings:
After
Race #12 at New Hampshire Int'l Speedway, September 21, 2004.
| 1. |
1984 |
Andy
Santerre |
| 2. |
1795 |
Mike
Olsen |
| 3. |
1795 |
Dale
Quarterley |
| 4. |
1728 |
Kelly
Moore |
| 5. |
1710 |
Ryan
Moore |
More
Information at Nascar.com - >>
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