Santerre Shines at New Hampshire

LOUDON, N.H. (May 13, 2000) - Another weekend of adversity, another stellar performance for Andy Santerre and Team Rensi Motorsports.

In addition to battling the emotions stemming from the tragic death of Adam Petty, Santerre overcame a poor qualifying effort on Friday and drove the No. 25 Lance Snacks Chevrolet to a sixth place finish in Saturday's NASCAR Busch Series, Grand National Division Busch 200 at New Hampshire International Speedway.

It was Santerre's first top-10 finish of the season in five races and Team Rensi Motorsports' third top-10 effort. The Cherryfield, Me., native had a large following of fan support for the race, having grown up five hours from the track.

"Not a bad day at all for us," Santerre said. "This team needed a good run. The car stayed good for us all day long. For us to come out of here sixth, we're pretty happy.

"(Crew chief) David (Ifft) made great calls on the car, and the guys did a pretty good job in the pits, so we had a pretty good day with this Lance Snacks Chevy. Who knows what would have happened if we'd have had a better starting position, but we were able to overcome that and come out of here with a solid finish."

Petty crashed his Chevrolet during the second practice session Friday, cutting the practice half an hour short. He was taken to a local hospital by ambulance and was pronounced dead a couple of hours later.

Santerre, who practiced well on Friday morning, drew one of the first five qualifying spots for the afternoon session, much to his dismay.

Santerre's fears weren't unfounded as he could only qualify the Lance Chevy 42nd out of 48 cars with a lap of 126.669 mph. Tim Fedewa won the pole with a lap of 130.247 mph. Santerre took a provisional and started Saturday's race from the 37th position.

"The luck of the draw really hurt us in the qualifying deal, but we had a pretty good racer and we knew it," Santerre said. "Our car wasn't that good on short runs, but it was very good on long runs."

"Once again, Andy drove an outstanding race," Ifft said. "He's really getting a feel for this race car and we're very happy with what he's done this year. We were hoping for a top-five finish, but you can't ask for much more from Andy than what he showed today. The guys on the crew did a great job too and deserve a lot of credit."

An accident on lap 1 allowed Santerre to make up eight spots before taking the yellow flag. He stayed consistent, making his way to the 23rd position by lap 35.

He broke into the top-20 when he zipped past P.J. Jones on lap 56 of the 200-lap event. He stayed there until lap 88 when Randy LaJoie spun out in turn 3, causing the third caution flag to fly. He came out of the pits in 23rd.

Following the race's fourth caution on lap 101, Ifft had Santerre come into the pits for four tires and fuel. That guaranteed Santerre he would be able to finish the race on the same tank of gas, but he dropped all the way back to 27th place.

Again Santerre stayed steady and made his way back into the top-20 by lap 122. He gained tremendous track position a few laps later when another caution flag came out and several of the leaders pitted. On the re-start on lap 134, Santerre found himself in seventh place.

Santerre made his way into the top-five on lap 166, giving him an opportunity to challenge for the victory. A caution flag on lap 185, however, slowed his momentum, and after jockeying for position with several drivers in the final laps, he wound up sixth.

The race was only Santerre's second scheduled event this season (he finished 15th at Nashville). However, he has raced in five events in 2000.

"This race was really something for us to build on," Santerre said. "We definitely were hoping for something like this and we got it. We're going to keep getting it and we're going to keep getting better as we go."

The team will enjoy an off-weekend this week. Kenny Wallace will return behind the wheel of the Lance Chevy on May 27 in the Carquest Auto Parts 300 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte. Santerre's next scheduled race is the June 10 Textilease Medique 300 at South Boston (Va.) Speedway.