GREAT CAISSE IN POINT: GOODYEARS WORK WELL IN ELKO RACE

Source: Lee Elder
Date: 05/19/2007

ELKO, Minnesota -- Sean Caisse made a great restart work and he won the Minnesota 150 race for the NASCAR Grand National Division at Elko Speedway. It was a history-making event and Caisse stamped his name in the books by winning both the pole and the race. Goodyear is the exclusive tire provider for the Grand National Division, which includes both the Busch East Series and the West Series.

“Our Goodyear Eagles performed very well, as we expected, tonight,” said Chad Fletcher, Goodyear operations manager. “The winner’s last lap, the 156th of the race, was less than a second slower than his pole-winning lap in qualifying.”

The race was scheduled for 150 laps but was extended by a late caution. It was the first points-paying race for the Grand National Division in the state of Minnesota.

Caisse’s margin of victory over runner-up Bryon Chew was just .305 of a second. Mike David, Rogelio Lopez and Mike Olsen rounded out the top five finishers.

The race came down to a restart with two laps remaining. Caisse got off to a better start and pulled away as the race for second place got serious.

The event was a combination event for both series and the drivers earned points based upon their finish compared to other drivers in their series. David was the top finishing West Series racer and earned a victory. The other top-five finishers in the overall scoring were from the East Series.

Caisse earned an automatic berth in the end-of-the-season Toyota All-Star Showdown event at Irwindale Speedway in October. Only the overall winner earned the automatic berth.

“The tires held up great,” Caisse said in the Winner’s Circle. “If we’d have had another 50 laps, if this had been a 200-lapper, the tires would have held up fine.”

Chew started 23rd and had to charge toward the front early in the 150-lap event.

“I still had a lot of grip in my tires,” Chew said. “The tires held up real well.”

The Grand National Division competitors race at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa on Sunday.

More information on Goodyear Racing is available at www.racegoodyear.com. More information on the NASCAR Grand National Division is available at www .nascarlocalracing. com.

See Also .:

• www.racegoodyear.com
• Near Live Archive presented by GoodYear

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