From rock bottom, Caisse is building his career back

Several months ago, Sean Caisse, a racecar driver thought to be well on his way to NASCAR stardom, hit what he considered to be "rock bottom."

The 22-year-old only had $86 left in his checking account and a supposed Dale Earnhardt Inc. ride promised to him for 2008 didn't pan out.

So with no ride on the horizon, Caisse made plans to pack up his racing dreams and head home to New Hampshire.

Sea Caisse earned the pole at Kentucky in May.

"I had exhausted all my resources, but everyone kept telling me what a great driver I was. But at that point in time I had no money," said Caisse, who had ran two full seasons in NASCAR's Camping World Series East with Andy Santerre Motorsports and finished second in the final championship standings both seasons. The team also had several wins as well as poles.

Banking on his supposed ride at DEI, Caisse told Santerre he would not return to the Camping World Series in 2008. But shortly thereafter DEI told Caisse they no longer had sponsorship to run him in their stable.

"I needed to move up," he said. "So I took a risk. Unfortunately, it didn't pan out and I was stuck without a ride."

Caisse was close to finishing his degree in mechanical engineering; school was an option, but it wasn't one he favored. He wanted to go NASCAR racing, a goal he had made for himself at 10 years old.

"Instead I went at least four months with no income," he said. "I was shopping for sales, cutting coupons. When you hit rock bottom it puts life in a different perspective."

Preparing for the move back home, Caisse dropped in on some old friends at Germain Racing looking to borrow a trailer to move his furniture. He had befriended the team after they had called on Caisse once to run a Truck Series race in New Hampshire; however, he never had the opportunity to race on account of it being a late entry.

Nevertheless, Caisse walked into general manager Mike Hillman's office. It was mid-March and sitting with him was Shigeaki Hattori, former Indy Racing League driver and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver for Germain Racing. Today he operates an ARCA team, Hattori Racing Enterprises.

Turns out, Caisse was the subject of the men's meeting. Coincidentally, Hillman and Hattori were discussing a possible development program for Caisse. (Continued)