Tony Raines Charlotte Report

Concord, NC-As the Busch Grand National Series enters the final stages of the season, Tony Raines and the Bayer Consumer Care Racing team entered into the Lowe's Motor Speedway this past weekend eager to get the event underway. The team had tested at the track just a few weeks prior and was very happy with the test results. "We had a very good test here," crew chief Michael Kadlecik said. "We found a good set up and we were very fast."

During the first morning practice session on Friday, Raines was having trouble getting the car up to full speed. The crew made some changes before qualifying, but when Raines went out for his qualifying laps he was able to complete only one lap at a decent speed. He brought the car back into the garage and the crew went to work trying to figure out where the problem was. What they found was a bad fuel cell. "We fixed the problem," Michael Kadlecik said. "Although we have to take a provisional to get into the race tomorrow, I think we will still have a decent run." During "Happy Hour" that afternoon, Raines posted the 14^th fastest time.

The start of the race on Saturday was delayed two and a half hours due to rain. At approximately 2:30pm the green flag was thrown and Raines was moving to the front from the 37^th position. On lap 29 of the 200-lap event Raines was up to 29^th when he radioed into the crew that the car was tight in the center of the corners and loose coming out of the turns. Lap 55 brought the first caution out and Raines came into pit while running in the 24^th spot. The crew went to work servicing the Alka-Seltzer Plus machine, putting on four new tires, refueling, and making the necessary changes to make the car handle better.

By lap 79, Raines had worked his way up to the 18^th place. The caution was out once more on lap 87 when Raines was called into pit again. This time Raines took two tires on the right side of the car only and returned to the track in the 11^th position.

Raines had lost a few spots by lap 123 and was riding in the 14^th place. Raines made his final pit stop of the day on lap 156 while under caution. After returning to the track after his pit stop, Raines was called back in by NASCAR due to loose lug nuts on one of the tires. He returned to the race in the 17^th spot.

With 40 laps to go, Raines had worked his way back to the front. He was in the 13^th spot when the checkered flag was thrown.

"It felt like we were running at night," Michael Kadlecik said after the race. "After all of the rain, the car got so much tighter. We weren't able to make changes before the race, but I knew what the track conditions were going to be after it got so wet. We had some problems in the pits today, but I have to say that problems in the pits are a rare thing with this team. This is the first time out of the last six races here at this speedway that Raines has finished on the lead lap unwrecked, so today was not that bad of a day."

Thus far this season, Raines has captured four top fives, his best at the Richmond International Speedway in the spring when he finished second, 13-top ten's, and 18-top fifteens. Raines has also consistently stayed in the top-ten in the point standings all year. He is currently in the sixth spot, but with only four races remaining, a fifth place points finish is not out of reach. 

The Bayer Consumer Care Racing team will head to Memphis, Tennessee to compete on Saturday at the Memphis Motorsports Park.