It’s a story that could make a compelling dramatic movie. A young driver trying to work his way into NASCAR meets a NASCAR-affiliated track owner who becomes his mentor. The story might have had a happy ending with a young seemingly talented driver showing he has what it takes to race among NASCAR’s elite. Instead, this week it was revealed through court documents and police reports that the story has a violent and somewhat bizarre twist. And that story is far from over.
It began more than a decade ago almost by happenstance. Sean Caisse was a teenager who seemed to have a talent for racing. In 2002 the Caisse, then 16, and his family boarded a plane to New Hampshire after vacationing in Florida. According to a report in the Maine Sunday Telegram, the young Caisse was seated next to an older gentleman. The two stuck up a conversation that quickly turned to racing. The young Caisse started racing go-karts at age 10, first in Massachusetts and then in Pelham, New Hampshire, where he grew up. From 1996 to 1999, Caisse won seven karting track championships in four divisions.
A week after the flight the family learned that their son’s seatmate that day was Andy Cusack the owner of Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, a 1/3 mile NASCAR-sanctioned asphalt oval in Scarborough, Maine.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
- NASCAR to debut new short track package at Phoenix - February 28, 2023
- The Wrench Who Stole Racing - December 16, 2022
- Matt DiBenedetto’s excellent run comes to abrupt, violent end - February 17, 2019
