Tony Raines and the Bayer Consumer Care Team Battle the High Banks of Daytona

In Saturday's season opening Busch Series event at the Daytona International Speedway, not even a pit box full of Extra Strength Bayer could have eased the pain that was dished out to Tony Raines and his No. 33 Bayer Consumer Care Chevrolet.  The Indiana driver fell victim to a multi-car crash on lap 74 that regulated the team to a 34^th place finish in the GNC Live Well 300.

Raines, who qualified 26^th, patiently worked traffic around the famous 2.5 mile superspeedway in the early laps of the event and found himself running in the 20^th place spot when the caution flag flew for the first of four cautions on the day.  Raines, who fought a tight handling race car for the majority of the race, hit pit road under the yellow flag and headed to the attention of his crew.  The Bayer Consumer Care crew helped give their driver valuable track position by pulling off a quick, two-tire stop that sent Raines back onto the track in the 12^th place position with a chance to make a run at the leaders with just over 20 laps on the board.  However, the car once again developed a tight handling condition that caused Raines and his Bayer machine to suffer the shuffle of the draft as he raced three and four-wide to try and keep his position among the lead pack of cars.

With nearly half the race in the books, Raines was able to catch a much-needed caution flag when front-runners Mike McLaughlin and Bobby Hamilton Jr. collided on the backstretch to bring out the second caution of the day.  Raines, who was running 26^th at the time, pitted under the yellow flag in an attempt to correct the ill handling condition that had hindered the performance of the car for most of the day.  With track position playing an important role in the outcome of any race, Raines crew once again proved to be a valuable asset by picking up six positions on pit road and placing Raines in the top-20 for the restart of the race.  However, prior to the restart, crew chief Michael Kadlecik decided to roll the dice when he called Raines back into the pits to top the car off with fuel in an effort to outlast the competition by stretching the fuel mileage over the remaining 58 laps of the race.  The gamble would prove costly as Raines was forced give up track position and drop down on pit road to top the car off with fuel.

After the restart on lap 63, Raines began his march to front as he worked traffic from the back of the field.  As in his previous trips to Daytona, trouble would find Raines and the Bayer Consumer Care crew on lap 74 when the No. 38 car of Christian Elder and No. 46 car of Ashton Lewis got together in the tri-oval part of the race track.  The accident, which collected a total of eight cars, left Raines with no where to go as the spinning cars blocked the track directly in front of him.  "I was in the wrong place, I knew it was coming", said Raines. "I was stuck double file near the end of the line.  Someone came off the wall and hit another car and then all hell broke loose.  Its just typical Daytona for me."  After the accident, the Bayer Consumer Care crew was able to repair the car and send it back onto the track in order to gain points that will prove valuable in the overall picture for a strong finish in the Busch Series points title.  The team finished the day in the 34^th place slot.

The No. 33 team will race this coming weekend in the Rockingham 200 at the North Carolina Motor Speedway.  The FOX Sports network will carry the coverage of Saturday's event.

EVENTS OF THE WEEK

Tony Raines was not only a busy man on the track this week.  Raines participated in a number of activities to help bring recognition to Bayer Consumer Care, its customers and the BACE Motorsports race team.

On Monday, Raines was invited by FOX Sports to take part in a special pre-race promotional shoot that will be used at the beginning of each NASCAR Busch Series race that FOX Sports will telecast.  Raines was one of only 44 drivers in both Winston Cup and Busch Series competition to be invited to take part in this promo personality shoot.

On Thursday, Raines attended the Winston Cup Scene dinner at the Adams Mark Hotel in Daytona Beach.  Raines mingled with guests and meet with a number of representatives with the Winston Cup Scene to discuss his objectives for the 2002-racing season.  Later that same evening, Raines was a guest on the Bill Connell Sports Radio Show.  A local popular radio sports show that is held annually at Sweetwater's Restaurant in Daytona Beach.  The show was also broadcast live over the Internet for the first time.

Prior to the race on Saturday, Raines joined a group of Bayer guests and customers for a hospitality meet and greet event.  Raines took some time to explain his thoughts on the upcoming race and his goals for the 2002 season.  In addition, Raines also signed autographs for those in attendance and posed for a few pictures with guests.