NASCAR Grand National Division, Busch North Series Post-race Notes : Raceway Media

MBNA America 150, Dover International Speedway, Dover, Del., Friday, Sept .24

For the second week in a row, Dale Quarterley and Andy Santerre ended a Busch North Series race doing simultaneous burnouts. This time it was Quarterley as the race winner, while Santerre captured the biggest prize of all- the Busch North Series championship.

Both had plenty to say at the post-race press conference. Quarterley reminded the assembled media that his team has only one full-time employee in addition to himself, crew chief Mike Sibley, and operates out of a garage in his backyard where “my wife yells at me if I mess up the yard when I back the tractor-trailer in”. That small operation, with its almost weekly rotation of primary sponsors, has now won two of the three superspeedway races on the 2004 Busch North Series schedule, exorcized the demons of the near-misses at Dover in 1001 and 2002, and put to rest forever the idea they are just road course specialists.

Santerre’s spin on a late-race restart kept the verdict in doubt until the checker fell, but he wrapped up his third consecutive title with one race to go. Needing only to finish ahead of Mike Olsen to put the title away, Santerre stayed within striking distance of the leaders all day while Olsen struggled and went a lap down during a long green flag run. Santerre hinted in his post-race remarks that he might cut back his schedule in 2005, but added “I talk about retiring every year.” The decision about next year’s program will come after consultation with car owner Joe Bessey.

Of course, Santerre has some unfinished business from back in 2003 still on the table. He would like nothing better than to cap the hat-trick season by winning the NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown at Irwindale Speedway in California on November 13. Last year he was the dominant car most of the Showdown weekend but was relegated to second by NASCAR Grand National Division, West Series driver Austin Cameron.

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Paul Wolfe seemed ready to finally win his first Busch North Series race at the track where he was the pole sitter and runner-up in 2002. He led 105 of the first 120 laps, opening a lead of as much as 7 seconds, but had nothing to respond to Quarterley’s final charge. Wolfe’s four-race program for 2004 resulted in a clean slate of top ten finishes, with back-to-back seconds within a five-day period. Wolfe in contention for a full-time NASCAR Busch Series ride in 2005 as part of the “Hungry Driver” program.

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Tim Andrews showed both awesome speed and dramatic flair as he seized the Busch Pole from Wolfe as the next-to-last qualifier on Thursday, only to require an overnight engine change which relegated him to the tail of the field for the start. He said the replacement engine wasn’t strong, but you couldn’t tell that from the way he cut through the field like the proverbial hot knife through butter. He was sixth by the lap 37 restart and took third from Ryan Moore with a spectacular outside pass on lap 45. By lap 60 the Great Clips Chevrolet had reached second, but the great ride ended with a blown engine just short of the 100 lap mark. Like Wolfe, Andrews would be a solid championship contender with a full-season Busch North program.

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While Jamie Aube saw Santerre equal his record of three championships, it was a excellent day for the veteran who returned to full-time action in 2004. His seventh place was the best of the season for the One Stop Toy Shop Chevrolet, he won the Featherlite Most Improved Driver Award for the best finish improvement over the previous race at NHIS (in a tiebreaker with Mike Olsen), and he moved back into a top-15 spot in the standings, worth a trip to the NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown if he can hold it this weekend in the season finale at Wall Township Speedway.

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An eventful day for the boys from Jersey... Auto Meter Rookie of the Year Ryan Seaman scored his first top ten finish and won the PowerAde Power Move of the Race Award for charging from 22nd at the start to 10th at the finish. At the other end of the spectrum, Joey McCarthy and Don Wagner crashed into the front straight inner wall at lap 25, leaving them 26th and 27th respectively. It was announced during the weekend that the Busch North Series’ debut in the Garden State next Saturday at Wall Township Speedway has been titled the Trim Spa 150.

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Milestones.... Eddie MacDonald’s third place finish tied his best of the season and was a career superspeedway best... Mike Gallo recorded his third top-ten finish in as many starts with the JBR Racing Ford... Tracy Gordon chalked up his first Busch North Series top ten since 2002 and a superspeedway best for Fred Skaff’s team... Surprisingly, Mike Johnson’s 12th was his best in three Dover starts... Also recording personal bests at the Monster Mile were Barney McRae (13th) and Scott Bouley (16th).

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