Tony Raines Indianapolis Race Report

Indianapolis, IN-You could say that Tony Raines and the Bayer Consumer Care Racing team had some luck on their side in the Kroger 200 at Indianapolis Raceway Park this past Saturday night. Although the team fell two positions shy of the top-10 finish they had hoped for, a 12^th place run was a victory considering the circumstances.

The Bayer Consumer Care Racing crew threw a few changes in after Saturday morning's practice session, but they could never get a handle on it before Raines had to go out for his qualifying run. Raines posted a lap good enough in qualifying to place him in 24^th on the starting grid.

Raines and crew chief Michael Kadlecik discussed the setup at the end of qualifying, and they knew it was going to be a tough race, but they felt they could make enough adjustments during the race to get the No. 33 up front.

Raines quickly began working his was through the field after the drop of the green flag. When the second caution of the day flew on lap 51, Raines had moved himself into the 21^st position. He radioed into the crew that the car was tight in the turns and he would need the rear sway bar pulled to loosen the car.  The over-the-wall crew executed a flawless stop and sent Raines back into competition.

The green flag was in the air on lap 54, and once again Raines commenced dicing his way through the field. Raines had positioned himself in the 20^th place when he was tapped from behind sending him into a spin in turn three. Fortunately, Raines avoided contact with the outside retaining wall and with any other cars. He pitted under caution, taking on four new tires and making a few adjustments to loosen up the car a little more. With an outstanding 16.10-second pit stop, Raines rejoined the field in the 24^th spot.

On lap 107, the leaders came into pit, while Raines opted to stay out. He moved to the 9^th position for the restart of the race.  By lap 187, Raines had lost a couple of positions and had moved back to the 11^th spot when the caution came out for the eighth time of the night. The race was red flagged for cleanup.

After a lengthy cleanup session, the race was underway again on lap 192. Raines had only eight laps to make it into the top ten until the checkered flag was going to be waved. The last remaining laps were very heated with several drivers pushing their way to the front. Raines made contact with a few cars, and fell back one spot to finish in the 12^th position.

"What a wild night," Raines said after the race. "We struggled with the car being to tight all day, but it started coming together in the later stages of the race.  I had a close call in turns three and four when the car spun, but I was lucky I didn't hit anything. The guys did a great job getting me back out on the track."

Raines remains in the sixth spot in the point standings, and is trailing only eight points behind fifth place.

Tony Raines and the Bayer Consumer Care Racing team will have next weekend off before they head to the Michigan International Speedway on August 18^th.