Texas Race Report

Remember Second! That is about where the car ran most of the day. The skill of evasion was the first challenge of the day. Series leader, Jeff Green, went into a spin in front of Raines, and through quick action Raines avoided being collected in what could have been a serious car pile up.

On Lap 60, the Aleve car came in under a caution for a four-tire pit stop. The Aleve car came back out in record time (less than 16 seconds) and came in the sixth position.

Raines called in that the tires were not handling well. According to Brian Baumgardner, Spotter and Team owner, Raines relayed that it, "was like driving a train in a traffic jam" in order to keep the car on the track.

What had been a terrific run for the #33 team for most of the race, ended in dreaded pit stop on Lap 121 under "green" to replace all four tires. Quickly, Raines jumped back into the race with four fresh Goodyears.

Raines worked his way through the field, passing one car after another. Unfortunately, on Lap 164, Mike Skinner decided that he was going to pass Raines and Bobby Hamilton, Jr. While making his pass, Skinner hit the left rear corner of the car, sending Raines into the grass ellipse. Raines kept his cool and regained control of the car, and avoided what surely would have been a pile up. Incredibly, the Aleve car only lost two spots on the track.

From the accident, which left the rear of the Aleve car damaged, resulting in the bumper brace being left sticking out approximately four inches. It continued to inch its way out as Raines raced onward, and became a "spear". NASCAR was forced to "black flag" Raines. This put him into the pits under Green on Lap 180, until the Team could cut the brace off completely. Raines lost a lap due to this safety problem. Raines would end the race in the 20th position. Tony Raines is currently fourteenth in the points standings.

Spotter and Team owner, Brian Baumgardner, relayed his feelings about the "black flag". He said, "NASCAR really did not want to black flag Tony, but they had to do it based upon NASCAR rules". Baumgardner stated that crew chief, "Dover" said, "It's a shame! We had a top five car in Texas and this is one of Tony's favorite tracks going back to his Super Truck days".

The Jani-King 300 was completed in just over two hours, and had eleven lead changes between eight drivers. Kevin Harvick captured his first Busch Grand National victory with a very popular win.

After a much needed two-week hiatus, the Busch Grand National series goes to the Nashville Superspeedway on April 14th for the Nashville 300 race event.