ASM - Continuing a Winning Tradition
ASM Motorsports has become the most recognizable and successful name in the NASCAR Busch East Series, Grand National Division. In 2006, under the leadership of four-time Champion, Andy Santerre, ASM Motorsports guided sophomore driver Sean Caisse within striking distance to the championship. With an emphasis on technology, presentation, and development, ASM Motorsports is regarded as the most esteemed team in the series. In 2007, ASM Motorsports expands to a two-car operation with driver, Jeffrey Earnhardt, joining the youth movement that has come to define ASM Motorsports.
Andy brought the ASM #44 to its first title in 2002. (Gallo Photo)
ASM Motorsports has always set high standards in its quest for victory, but the pathway wasn’t always as smooth as they would have liked.
The team got its beginning in 1995 when Santerre found himself without a ride only three months before the season commenced. Santerre put his own team together and made an assault on the then-titled Busch North Series. Santerre’s career thrived in his new role as owner/driver. He racked up seven wins under the ASM Motorsports banner before leaving for the NASCAR Busch Series and a new home in North Carolina in 1998.
Shortly after winning his first career Busch Series race at Pikes Peak International Raceway in 1999, Santerre decided to field a car for himself. He teamed up with Mike Reece and Briggs Cunningham, III to form the Santerre-Reece Motorsports organization and competed on a part-time basis in 2001.
Sponsorship opportunities were not plentiful in the Busch Series so Santerre shifted his focus back to his roots up north. The team was renamed ASM Motorsports and Santerre began a one-man operation from his Concord, NC-shop. Santerre was not only the race car driver, but the fabricator, mechanic, and truck driver. Santerre logged many hours on the road traveling back and forth to the Northeast for each of the Busch East Series events, but his efforts paid big dividends with the 2002 Busch East Series Championship.
Andy Santerre - four-time NASCAR Busch North/East Series Champion. (Tom Gallo Photo)
ASM Motorsports merged with Joe Bessey Motorsports for the 2003 and 2004 seasons and continued a domination that would result in two more series titles.
GRIZCO Racing, one of the most prominent teams in the Busch East Series, approached Santerre about driving for them. Car owners, Steve and Peg Griswold, felt that his addition to the team would allow them to live out their dream of a multi-car operation. Santerre successfully pursued a record-breaking fourth Championship while managing a three-car effort that included nine-time NASCAR Champion Mike Stefanik and two-time Busch East Series Champion Brad Leighton.
After the 2005 season, Santerre found himself at a career crossroads; having retired from driving, he wanted to focus on management within a complex racing infrastructure. With a major sponsorship withdrawal at GRIZCO Racing, they too were ready for a change. GRIZCO Racing shut down its multi-car operation and partnered with Santerre to revive ASM Motorsports with 2005 Busch East Series Rookie of the Year, Sean Caisse, in the driver’s seat.
Expectations were high for ASM Motorsports and their new driver Sean Caisse, but the results were better than anyone had imagined. Caisse came out of the gate with two wins in the first two races. By season’s end, Caisse had a total of three wins, five Busch Pole Awards, six top-five, and eight top-10 finishes in only 11 starts! Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (DEI) saw ASM’s potential and decided to put development driver Jeffrey Earnhardt under Santerre’s guidance for the 2007 Busch East Series season, and thus, expanded the team to a two-car operation.
ASM Motorsports is located in a state-of-the-art facility in Harrisburg, NC. The building, which originally housed Robert Yates Racing, totals 12,000 square feet and includes two surface plates, a downdraft paint booth, and a full-service body shop.
