Dover BGN Race Report

The No. 33 BACE Motorsports Team headed to Dover International Speedway this weekend for the 14^th NASCAR Busch Series race this season, looking to repeat the success they scored in the 2001 season at the "Monster Mile" when they finished tenth and seventh respectively in the Fall and Spring races.  To aid the cause they brought Chassis # 9 from the BACE Motorsports shop, the same car they raced in two of their three top 10 finishes thus far this season.

Driver Tony Raines, who for the first time in his career ran "double duty" competing in both the NASCAR Winston Cup and Busch Series events at Dover, qualified his No. 33 Chevrolet in the 19^th starting position with a time of (insert lap time).  Raines believed his machine was strong and ready for the challenge to move to the front of the field.

For Raines and the No. 33 Team, the battle to the front would not be fought on the track but in the pits instead.  Dover International Speedway is one of several tracks on the NASCAR circuit that has a very tight pit road area, presenting difficulty for drivers to move in and out of their pit stalls. 

During the first caution of the race, Raines brought his Chevrolet down pit road to the attention of his team.  The No. 33 team went to work giving Raines four fresh Goodyear tires, a fuel tank of fuel and a track bar adjustment. Upon exit of his pit stall, Raines realized he was blocked in by the No. 98 machine of rookie, Kasey Kahne. Valuable time was lost as Raines maneuvered his Chevrolet around the No. 98 machine.  Just as he swung the No. 33 on to pit road, Shane Hmiel in the No. 47 clipped Raines' right front fender causing substantial damage that would affect the handling of the car for the remainder of the race.

Prior to that first caution, Raines had been working his way through the field with the aide of a strong machine underneath him.  Before the drop of the green flag to begin the race, crew chief Michael "Dover" Kadlecik radioed to his driver, "Getting around this track has everything to do with rhythm. You know that already so let's have a great day."

It didn't take Raines long to find the right rhythm around the one-mile concrete facility picking up four positions within the first seven laps of the race, moving the No. 33 into the top 15.  By lap 35, Raines had moved into the 12^th position and radioed that the car was just a little tight off.

When the first caution flag of the day fell on lap 45 for an accident on the backstretch involving the No. 2 Chevrolet of Johnny Sauter, Raines radioed to his team, "free it up a little but it's pretty good."  A good pit stop would have a frustrating end after the No. 47 clipped the right front of the car.  Raines would be forced to return to pit road the next lap for repairs to be made returning him to the track at the tail end of the lead lap cars in the 24^th position.

The second caution flag of the day fell on lap 66 for a three car accident in turn three.  Raines brought the No. 33 to the attention of his team once again.  "The adjustment we made didn't help at all," Raines stated.  This time down pit road the No. 33 added fuel, a rubber to the right rear of the car and made another trackbar adjustment.  Raines took the restart in the 22^nd position.

Unfortunately with the severe damage to the front end, the adjustments made in the pits aided the ill-handling car but could not restore it with the strength it had in the early stages of the race. 

"You drove your way to 12^th place," radioed Kadlecik during the race.  "We had a good car today, one that was definitely quick enough but we just ran into a bad deal."

"Something definitely broke when he hit it because it wasn't handling like this earlier in the race," stated Raines.  "It feels as if it affected the toe-in or the swaybar."

Raines would loose time on the track with the loose condition of the car and during a green flag pit stop finishing the race in the 27^th position, six laps behind race winner Greg Biffle.

"It's frustrating," Raines stated after the race.  "Dover has a tight pit road and the drivers have to respect that.  The car was definitely not the same after the hit on pit road.  It affected the handling tremendously so we definitely broke something.  We've had a great weekend in Dover as an organization with two cars in the Cup race and I had a great car today for the Busch race but once again we ran into bad luck.  I really wanted to have a great run here today and carry that momentum into the Cup race but with that not being the case, we'll just focus on having a solid run tomorrow."

Raines remained in the 18^th position in the NASCAR Busch Series drivers' point standings, 320 points out of the top ten.  Team owner Brian Baumgardner dropped one position in the owners' point standings to the 22^nd spot.

The No. 33 Team will just have one car to pit this weekend as they head to Nashville Superspeedway for the second visit to the 1.33-mile concrete facility this season.  Raines will duel with 42 other drivers under the lights as the race is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. start time on Saturday.  The race will be aired on FX and broadcast live on MRN.