Tony Raines Richmond Report

Richmond, VA-"The Rumble at Richmond" could be the perfect appellation for the Richmond International Raceway, which hosted the last event under the lights this season for the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series this past Friday night. 

The race weekend did not start off very promising for driver Tony Raines after losing an engine in the first practice session on Thursday. The Bayer Consumer Care Racing crew was quick to make the motor change on the No. 33 Chevy Monte Carlo, which displayed the Alka-Seltzer colors. Fortunately Raines had drawn the last number of the 52 entries to attempt to qualify. This allotted more time for the crew to make the necessary changes. With no practice and a new engine under the hood, Raines was able to complete a qualifying lap that placed him in the 28^th starting position.

The crew made several adjustments during "Happy Hour" when Tony radioed in that the car was somewhat loose in the turns. "We're going to be fine," Raines said after the final practice. "The car needs to be dialed in a little more before the race tomorrow night."

The 250-lap event was under way around 8:00pm Friday night. Raines was able to avoid the first caution of the night that occurred in front of him while running in 25^th on lap 17. After the green flag was waved for the restart Raines settled in behind the leaders. He had gained five positions to be in 20^th when the second caution of the night came on lap 51. Raines pitted under caution taking on four tires and refueling. He returned to the race back in the 20^th spot.

Raines was able to avoid another close encounter on lap 95 while running in 19^th, as the car in front of him started spinning coming out of turn four. Some of the leaders chose to pit under the caution while Raines opted to stay out on the track. Raines moved up to the 15^th spot for the restart. By lap 148, Raines was running in the 13^th spot, but was passed by the race leader and went one lap down.

Raines was called in for his final pit stop under the green flag on lap 182. While the Bayer Consumer Care Racing team was performing their routine pit stop, the caution was thrown for an incident in turn four. Since Raines was on pit road and not on the track at the time of the accident, he went another lap down.

On the restart of the race, Raines was in the 23^rd position. After avoiding a rash of accidents in the latter stages of the race, Raines was not able to get his two laps back and finished in the 21^st position.

Raines did move up one spot in the point standings to be in sixth.

"We had a good car, we just had some bad breaks," Raines commented after the race. "Our car was fast, but we just weren't able to get ahead and get back on the lead lap. It's unfortunate to have a good car like we did and only be able to have a descent finish."

As the season winds down, with only seven races remaining, the Bayer Consumer Care Racing team and the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series will take a weekend off this upcoming weekend. They will be back into racing action at the Dover Downs International Raceway the following Saturday.