Andy Santerre: East Series Champion and Mentor to NASCAR’s Next Superstars

All successful drivers credit their success to other drivers who have taught them the ropes and mentored them along their race journeys. Often, these racing role models have, themselves, achieved greatness, winning championships and excelling at their various levels.

These are the true champions of NASCAR racing; those that have given their hearts to racing and their souls to helping other drivers achieve their racing dreams. 

Andy Santerre, four-time champion of the East series and current owner of his own team, is one of these racing champions and a true mentor to the next generation of NASCAR’s greatest stars.

Several years ago, I had the pleasure of getting to know Santerre, his lovely wife Sue, and the No. 44 team, one that helps anchor the NASCAR Camping World East (formerly Busch East) series.  At that time, Andy was still driving and actively winning championships.  He was the East Series most popular driver for multiple years.  

Santerre was, and still is, one of the most respected in that series’ garage—someone that everyone turns to for advice, counsel, or even an extra part in a pinch. In the past few years, Andy has moved from driving the car to owning, managing, and crew chiefing his team, often taking young, up-and-coming drivers under his wing.

So, who is this champion, racing role model, and developer of young NASCAR talent? I wanted to know more and had the great fortune of spending time with Andy in his race hauler at the Monster Mile this past race weekend in Dover, Delaware. 

He was gracious, as he always is, taking time to sit down and talk about his extraordinary journey as a race car driver, champion, team owner, crew chief, husband, father and mentor to young drivers.

Anthony “Andy” Lee Santerre entered the world on September 7, 1968 in Cherryfield, Maine. As with so many NASCAR drivers, he caught the racing bug from his father, who had a motorcycle and loved the speed. 

Interestingly enough, Andy had another reason for getting involved in racing—his then girlfriend’s family was also into the sport.  That, in addition to his own family history, inspired him to take up dirt track racing in his home state of Maine.

This new passion was short-lived as at age 19, Santerre was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome. He was hospitalized from January to March and then underwent rehab all summer long. One of his friends gave him a race car as he was recuperating and he credits this as his motivation to get out of bed, recover, and go back to his racing career.

Andy went back to racing with a vengeance, buying a car in the fall of 1988 and going back to the track full-time in 1989. He raced Super Late Models and then Pro Stocks. In the fall of 1992, he hooked up with Mike O’Connor to run two races in the then Busch North series. 

The following year, he was hired to run full-time, achieving Rookie of the Year honors and finishing tenth in points. In 1994, he continued with the O’Connor team, winning at Apple Valley Speedway, and finishing third in points. Santerre was also voted Most Popular Driver in the Busch North series that year.

In 1995, Santerre hoped to move to the Mike McLaughlin team. However, the deal fell apart. His old team was full, so Santerre started his own team, Andy Santerre Motorsports, and finished third in points in 1995 and second in 1996.

The next year, Andy ended up at Innovative Motorsports and won the Raybestos Rookie of the Year honors.

In 1999, Andy suffered another setback, breaking his leg at the Busch series Daytona race.  He was out of the car for three months, again having to endure difficult and painful rehabilitation. Yet he was able to return to the Pikes Peak race and secure his first career Busch Series victory.

The next several years were challenging, as he scrambled for sponsorship dollars to race. Santerre returned to race, now in the East Series, for himself under the Andy Santerre Motorsports banner, hooking up with Joe Bessey, who brought in Aubuchon Hardware sponsorship.

Bessey also brought in Steve Griswold, who often provided funding right out of his own pocket. 

With this partnership in place, Santerre would go on to be the East series champion from 2002 to 2005, tying a record set by East driver Ray Elder, who won four in a row from 1969 to 1972. Santerre's accomplishment was simply amazing, especially in an era when racing has become so competitive.

In December 2005, Andy Santerre announced his retirement as a driver  and shifted his focus to managing and crew chiefing his own team, now win conjunction with Grizco Racing. 

But he still had much to do; this new venture saw him take on a young, up-and-coming driver in Sean Caisse. Under Andy’s guidance, Sean had a great season, with eight race wins, and finished second in points.

Sean Caisse is one of Andy’s pride and joys. He believes that Sean has learned much under his tutelage and can now hold his own with superstar Joey Logano, who raced in the West series, often against Caisse. 

Andy truly believes that Sean will be the next superstar in NASCAR and he takes great pride in knowing that he has played a great part in this young driver’s success.

Santerre has continued to tutor young drivers, recently taking young Jeffrey Earnhardt, Kerry Earnhardt’s son and grandson of the late Dale Earnhardt, Sr., under his wing.  Jeffrey has now gone on to drive for family team DEI. 

Santerre also took on developmental driver Austin Dillon, grandson of Richard Childress.  Again, this young driver benefited greatly from the mentoring of Santerre and has also now moved on to his family’s team.

Santerre’s current driver is Peyton Sellers, age 24. Peyton has had some great races, but has also had some real challenges this season. As Andy shared, they have faced some real “hard luck” this race season.  After a rocky start, Sellers currently sits ninth in points for the season with one race left to go after Dover.

Although this year has been difficult, Santerre is justifiably proud.  He credits his success to hard work and going to the shop on a daily basis. He is always thorough in his maintenance and race preparation.  He also believes that hard work and “good clean race cars” are the keys to success in this division.

Santerre also acknowledges that he has had great family support for his racing.  Wife Sue is always by his side, handling the public relations and media for the team. 

Sue is also one of the most well-respected women in the series, involved in charitable efforts and the auxiliary activities.  The real pride in joy in both of their lives, however, are daughters Sara and Sami, who keep them busy on and off the track.

All too soon, it was time to finish up our chat and send Andy out the hauler door and back to work.  At the Monster Mile this weekend, Santerre’s car has been strong in practice and qualified for the outside pole. 

As we leave the ASM hauler, Andy directs his team in preparation for another run, in hopes of exposing his driver to not only a good finish, but the possibility of moving up and out of the series. 

That’s what makes Andy tick and the champion that he is.  Santerre is always looking out for others, especially his talented, up and coming drivers.  Although he is greatly the cause of his drivers’ successes, he rarely takes the credit, humbly not stepping into the spotlight himself. 

Next year will present yet another challenge as sponsorship will again become an issue.  But Santerre is a racer, a champion that has seen the highs and lows of life on and off the track. He will prevail, just as he has always done. 

And he must, as not only is the East series balanced on his shoulders, but there is probably another young, hungry driver just waiting out there for the gentle guidance to racing stardom that only Andy Santerre can provide.