Raines Survives a Tough Day With an 18^th Place Finish in Chicago

JOLIET, IL (July 13, 2002) After notching two top-five finishes in the last three Busch Series events, Tony Raines tightened his belts in preparation for the Tropicana 300 at the Chicagoland Speedway.  Raines posted the 12^th fastest speed in Friday's "Happy Hour" session and felt confident that a strong showing at the 1.5-mile facility was within reach for the No. 33 team.   However, a cut left rear tire on lap 132 would regulate Raines and his Bayer Aspirin Chevrolet to an 18^th place finish, two laps down to the leader.

On Friday afternoon, 48 teams took to the track for Bud Pole Qualifying in an effort to set the field for Saturday's event.  Raines posted a quick lap of 30.883 seconds at a speed of 175.713 mph.  Raines lap of record would place him on the inside of row 14 in the 27^th place starting position for the second annual Tropicana 300.  Following Winston Cup Qualifying on Friday, Busch teams hit the track for their final practice before the event.  The final session would allow the Bayer Consumer Care Team to try various shock and spring combinations in an attempt to find a comfortable set up for Raines.  Despite fighting a difficult tight handling condition on the 33 car during the "Happy Hour" session, Raines was able to post the 12^th fastest overall speed in the session.

Under blue skies on Saturday, Raines took the green flag for the start of the 200-lap event.  It wouldn't take but two laps for the caution flag to fly for an accident involving Kerry Earnhardt in turn two.  Raines would wait until the field was given the "one to go" signal to drop onto pit road for a quick gas-n-go as well as a minor track bar adjustment.  Raines would restart the race in the 37^th place spot on lap 13.

Raines would quickly go to work on the restart as he focused on patiently maneuvering race traffic in an attempt to stay on the lead lap.  Raines was running the 27^th place position when he came across the radio to give his first report on the handling condition of his racecar.  "I am loose in and really tight coming off of two," radioed Raines to his Bayer Consumer Care Crew.

The caution flag would fly for the second time on the afternoon on lap 64 for debris on the backstretch.  Under the yellow, Raines directed the No. 33 Bayer Aspirin Chevrolet to the attention of his crew.  The No. 33 team quickly changed four tires, went up one round on the track-bar and pulled a spring rubber from the left rear in 18.63 seconds.  The adjustments were made to correct the cars tight handling condition.  The team picked Raines up five positions on pit road to restart him in the 22^nd place spot on lap 66.

Lap 77 would bring the sound of frustration over the radio as Raines echoed his displeasure with the tight handling characteristics he was experiencing behind the wheel.  "This thing is pushing, pushing, pushing," commented Raines over the radio.  "I can't go anywhere for this push."  Crew Chief Michael Kadlecik replied to Raines in an effort to settle the Indiana driver, "Just calm down.  We will keep taking care of you and adjust during the next round of pit stops.  By the way, that was your fastest lap of the day."

"It sure didn't feel like it," replied Raines.

Over the next 20 laps, Raines would work his way into the top-twenty while posting lap times better and equal to those cars running in the top-ten.  Lap 95 would bring out the third caution of the day for debris once again on the race track.  Raines would bring the Bayer Aspirin Chevrolet down pit road for service and the needed adjustments.  After receiving four fresh tires and two turns down on the right rear wedge bolt, Raines would return to the track running in the 13^th place position, his highest running position on the afternoon.

On lap 101, trouble would break loose directly in front of Raines as the No. 40 machine of Brian Vickers would cause a four car accident in turn two.  Raines would receive minor damage to his right front fender and would have to come to pit road to repair the damage.  Raines would return to the track in the 21^st position.

Raines had a bird's eye view of the accident that hindered his progress to the front of the field.

"He (Vickers) was just driving over his head and just ran into Kenny Wallace," commented Raines.  "He went clear down on the apron and I knew that wasn't going to stick.  Fortunately I saw the wreck developing and was able to get slowed down without getting the car all tore to pieces."

The caution flag would once again be shown to field on laps 114 and 125 for two separate incidents involving the No. 40 and No. 10 machines.  Each caution would allow for Raines to duck onto pit road in an effort to check for damage as well as top the car off with fuel.  "This will allow us to run 20 more laps than the leaders," replied Kadlecik.  "We are going to be fine."

However, lap 132 would bring a call of distress from the Bayer Chevrolet drivers' cockpit.  "I think I have a tire going down," radioed Raines as he entered turn one.  Raines instinct was correct as he nursed the car to pit road to receive four fresh Goodyear tires.  It was quickly discovered that the left rear tire on the No. 33 machine had been cut as a possible result of running over a piece of debris left on the track from the previous cautions.

"Keep your cool and your momentum," encouraged Kadlecik to Raines.  "We can run the rest of the way on fuel."

The event would run green over the next 63 laps.  Raines would race his way into the 18^th place position until the red flag was shown to the field with three laps remaining in the event for an accident in turn four.  Raines would finish the day in the 18^th place spot, two laps down to the leaders.

With that finish, Raines remains 13^th in the overall Busch Series driver point standings with 2021 points to his credit.  Raines sits 217 points out of the tenth place spot in the standings.

Following the Tropicana 300, Raines gave his thoughts about the race and what was an unfortunate ending to a potentially good day for the Bayer Consumer Care Team. 

"The car was good and the longer we ran the better it got.  We definitely had a top-ten car speed wise.  That wreck and then cutting a tire on the restart makes it frustrating because the car was better than an 18^th place finish.  I felt like I got knocked around all day and every time I would get back up I would get back over again."

"All in all, it just wasn't a good day."

Raines and the team head to Gateway International Speedway next Saturday for race No. 20 on the schedule. The team will bring the car that finished fifth at Milwaukee just three weeks ago.