BAYER CONSUMER CARE RACING RACE REPORT

Lebanon, TN-Tony Raines, who celebrated his 37^th birthday, and the Bayer Consumer Care Racing team, visited the 1.3-mile Nashville SuperSpeedway to compete in the inaugural Pepsi 300 on Saturday.

The NASCAR Busch Series was the first sanctioning body to take to the track and compete at this new facility. The Nashville SuperSpeedway is unique in the sense that is one out of only three tracks on the series schedule that is made from concrete. Since the concrete is so white, it was extremely hard for the drivers to distinguish from the white retaining walls and the track when entering the turns, which caused numerous accidents throughout the weekend.

The Bayer Consumer Care Racing team was very fast in Thursday morning's practice session, posting an overall 3^rd quickest. Like several other cars, the #33 Alka-Seltzer car became another victim to the track in Thursday's afternoon practice. The car got loose coming off of the turn causing it to hit the outside retaining wall. Luckily, with only minimal damage done to the rear end of the machine, the crew was able to make the repairs without having to resort to the backup car. 

On Friday, Tony Raines drew the 35^th qualifying spot out of 44 cars. With a speed of 156.931mph and a time of 30.579, Tony was able to lock in the 16^th starting position.

With Kevin Harvick on the pole on race day, the green flag was dropped around noon for the 226-lap event. The first caution of the day came too soon on the first lap when Shawna Robinson and AJ Frank got together in turn one. After the race resumed, and several other cautions, Raines had moved up five places to be in 11^th by lap 47. Tire wear was a big concern and Tony radioed in that the car was loose and some adjustments needed to be made. Raines came in under the 5^th caution on lap 52 for new tires and fuel. He rejoined the field to be in 14^th.

Tony was still moving to the front by the halfway point, but an accident between to cars ahead of him left Tony slamming on the brakes and coming to almost a complete halt on the track to avoid the incident. Tony lost several positions and found himself in the 25^th spot.

Raines made a green flag pit stop on lap 145. While the Bayer Consumer Care Racing team was pitting the car, the caution was thrown for an incident on the track. This would result in Tony returning to the race in 19^th and one lap down.

By the end of the race, Tony was able to make his way to 16th place and has now moved up to be 12^th in the NASCAR Busch Series point standings. Greg Biffle went on to win his first Busch Series event.

"We had a decent day," Raines stated after the race. "We stayed out of trouble and didn't get caught up in an accident, although it was close a few times. The car ran good and the Bayer Consumer Care Racing crew did a terrific job in the pits," Raines continued. "We're still on the right path and anticipate getting into the Winner's Circle by the end of the year."

The team heads into the next event at the Talladega SuperSpeedway next Saturday, April 21.