Tony Raines Gateway Race Report

Madison, IL--The No. 33 Bayer Consumer Care Racing car driven by Tony Raines was ready for racing in Saturday's Carquest Auto Parts 250 at the Gateway International Raceway after a great qualifying run on Friday night. Raines qualified in the 13th position for Saturday night's race with a speed of 130.061 mph.

Raines and the crew had the Alka-Seltzer car dialed in during the first two practice sessions, posting the car in the top-ten fastest overall speeds. The practice session before the race, "Happy Hour", allowed Raines and the No. 33 team to make their final preparations to the car for Saturday night's race. "I'm ready," Raines said before the race. "We have a great car."

After a blistering hot day, racing action started approximately at 7pm. The temperature had dropped some, but the humidity was still high. Raines had made his way up to the eighth spot by lap 36. There wasn't much communication on the radio between Raines and crew chief, Michael Kadlecik, which means that Raines was pleased with how the car was handling. 

Lap 45 brought out the second caution in the race. Raines and the leaders came down pit road for a routine pit stop. The Bayer Consumer Care Racing team had a phenomenal pit stop which allowed Raines to gain two track positions and put him in the sixth spot. 

Raines battled with other drivers for several laps and had fallen back to the seventh place when the  fourth  caution came out on lap 97, almost to the halfway mark of the race. Raines was called into pit under the yellow.  While front tire changer, Ryan McKinney, was changing the front right tire of the No. 33 machine, the car pitted in front of the Bayer Consumer Care Racing team, was entering his pit stall when he accidentally ran over McKinney's foot. This slowed down the pit stop time, but the crew was able to get Tony back out in seventh.  McKinney has reported that his foot hurts and is swollen, but not broken, and he is okay.

By lap 119, Raines had gained one position and was in sixth. At that time he radioed into the crew that he was loosing oil pressure, which is a result of engine failure. Raines was able to keep the car  running, only loosing two spots to be in eighth before the fifth caution came out. When Raines pitted the crew raised the hood to see if the problem was fixable. Unfortunately, all they could do was get Raines back out on the track and hope the car would survive the final stages of the race.

Raines was able to complete 190 laps of the 200 lap race. With a 23rd place finish, Raines fell back to the seventh position in the points standings; although he is only 11 points out of fifth.

"We had a really good car, and great pit stops," Raines said after the race. "We dropped a valve in the engine which enabled us to have a good finish. It was just a bug that bit us."

The Bayer Consumer Care Racing team will be competing at the Pikes Peak International Raceway next Saturday in Pikes Peak, CO.