Santerre Captures Inaugural Motor Mile Checkers
By: Penny Aicardi

Radford, VA (August 21, 2005): Andy Santerre put aside point racing for a week, and was rewarded with his first season victory and the Busch North Series, Grand National Division point lead. Saturday night in the inaugural Star Country/Dominic's Sausage 150 at Motor Mile Speedway, Santerre took the lead from Matt Kobyluck after an all-out duel with 18 laps to go for his 22nd career win.

"I didn't think we were going to be that good here today. I had to take my nice guy image out and go out there and race like I know how to race," Santerre said. "That's what you've got to do at these kinds of places. It's a bullring. You don't want to go out there and dump anybody, but people will use you up if you let them."

Santerre started the Castle Packs Power Chevrolet eighth in the 25-car field after posting a qualifying lap of 17.033 seconds (86.655 mph). The first 40 laps went green giving Santerre an opportunity to move up to fourth before settling in for the long run. Two quick caution periods followed with Santerre moving up to third behind leader Ryan Moore and Mike Olsen.

Olsen took the lead at lap 66 giving Santerre a chance to challenge Moore for second, however, Santerre was unable to get the job done and remained in third as the race hit the halfway mark. Caution slowed the pace at lap 81 allowing teams to come in and pit. The entire top-10, including Santerre's No. 44 Castle Packs Power Chevrolet, came in except for Olsen.

"I knew we had a good car at the beginning of the race, but I took it easy knowing that we needed some adjustments and some tires," Santerre said. "I couldn't have won without the pit stop. The car was loose, and the adjustments gave me the forward bite I needed to pass on the bottom."

Santerre resumed the race in the 13th position and tore through the field. His road to the head of the pack, however, didn't come without work.

On lap 112, Santerre challenged teammate, Mike Stefanik, for third. Santerre got his nose underneath Stefanik's machine and the two ran door-to-door for several laps. The team were beating and banging all the way around the .416-mile oval before Santerre finally cleared the position on lap 116.

"That was the hardest race I had all night. It was a heck of a battle. My car was way better then his, but catching and passing are two different things," Santerre said.

Caution tightened the field for a double-file restart at lap 125 with Santerre in third. Santerre went under Kobyluck in his bid for the lead and again began a long side-by-side battle. Santerre had a nose on Kobyluck at the line and officially took the lead at lap 132.

"We all ran each other hard. Whoever won the race was going to be the one who got up there and started beating and banging and getting nasty," Santerre said. "You had to go to the bottom, and what I had to do was get under him enough and hope it moved him up the track. We had a way better car, but it's a hard place to pass."

Caution came out just after Santerre took the lead and set up a 10-lap dash to the checkers. Kobyluck challenged at the drop of the green, but Santerre shut the door time and time again. By lap 143, Santerre had pulled away to a three-carlength advantage.

"I didn't really want to go beside Matt again, but it was good racing. It was a little rough out there, but its short track racing. Nobody took anybody out, and nobody left with a destroyed car," Santerre said. "It feels real good to get this win. It's been tough. We've usually won three or four races by now, and I'm just glad I could get the Castle Packs Power Chevrolet to victory lane."