Santerre Edges Out Moore For Win In Thrilling Finish At Dover
By: Penny Aicardi September 24, 2005

Dover, DE: Andy Santerre held off a determined Ryan Moore in one of the closest finishes of the year when the two battled to the checkers in the MBNA Racepoints 150 at Dover International Speedway. Santerre powered his No. 44 Castle Packs Power Chevrolet less then a foot ahead of Moore at the line to earn his first career win at the track and his 23rd career Busch North Series victory.

“It was pretty exciting,” Santerre said after the race. “I think I had a little bit better car then him on the long run, but we were pretty equal. I knew the only shot I had (at the win) was the restart. I drove with all my heart through turn one and hoped that I could clear him.”

The scene was set at lap 134 when a fiery crash brought out the caution. Then-leader Ryan Moore had pulled away from Santerre, who had made his way to second after being sent to the tail end of the field for speeding during a pit stop at lap 88. The caution brought them side-by-side and set up a ten-lap dash to the checkers. As the green waved, the two went into turn one side-by-side with Santerre on the outside. Santerre pulled ahead and took the lead, but was pressured by Moore until the end. Moore made one final charge coming off turn four as the duo approached the checkered flag.

“He caught me again and started getting underneath me so I used the banking here to my advantage. I knew he was under me that last lap, but I knew if I got off the corner then the momentum would work in my favor,” Santerre said. “I ran my heart out every lap in this race. We were both overdriving at the end, and I was just fortunate at that restart that I got around him.”

Santerre’s victory didn’t come without hard work. After making some adjustments on the Castle Packs Power Chevrolet, Santerre was able to pick up his practice times from 13th fastest in the first session to third fastest in the second. The team was optimistic for qualifying, and posted a speed of 24.719 seconds (145.636 mph). The time equaled their second practice results, but it was only enough to earn the 14th fastest time of the day.

The first 25 laps of the race went caution free and Santerre was able to use the bottom groove to gain some ground, but when some of the leaders pitted at the caution, Santerre moved up to fifth for the restart at lap 31.

Santerre was on the march, and at lap 56, took over 2nd from Tim Andrews. He immediately set his sight on the 5 car of Sean Caisse, and after closing up his sizeable lead, Santerre went underneath the rookie for the lead at lap 65. Santerre remained out front for the next 22 laps. Following a lap 81 caution, Santerre pitted twice to take on both right and left side tires. Ryan Moore, who came in just behind him, beat him out of the pits.

Santerre lined up seventh, but had to drop to the tail end of the lead lap cars when NASCAR penalized several teams for speeding on pit road. When the race restarted at lap 91, Santerre was running 15th.

Several caution periods hindered Santerre’s progress, but it didn’t stop him by any means. At lap 111, Santerre was running sixth and still on the move. At lap 119, Santerre took over second in turn three and set his sights on Ryan Moore, who had opened a comfortable ten carlength lead.

The final caution came at lap 134 and set the duo up for the exciting finish.

“It’s pretty awesome to win here at Dover,” Santerre said. “Every time I’ve been here I’ve never been that good. Today, I brought our Loudon car. We didn’t qualify that good, but I knew it would be a good car.”

Santerre’s win was his second of the season and extended his point lead to 58 points over Ryan Moore with only two races left to the season.