Raines Cools Off The Field With A Ninth Place Finish At IRP

INDIANAPOLIS, IN (August 3, 2002) Hot, Hot, Hot.  That is the best way to describe the racing conditions at Indianapolis Raceway Park on Saturday as the NASCAR Busch Series invaded the .686-mile speedway located just eight miles from the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The day began early for the Bayer Consumer Care team as the garage area opened at 7 am in preparation for the 11:30 am practice session.  With track temperatures soaring to nearly 130 degrees, Tony Raines climbed behind the wheel of his Aleve Chevrolet in an attempt to find a setup that would enable him to post a solid performance in the Kroger 200.

During the first and only practice session of the day, Raines and the No. 33 team would battle a tight condition throughout most of the session.  However, by the time the red flag would be shown to signal the end of practice, Raines would post the tenth quickest speed on the board with a lap speed of 107.332 mph.  For qualifying, Raines piloted the Aleve Chevrolet to a 20^th place starting position with a timed lap of 22.984 seconds at a speed of 107.449 mph.

With the sun going down and the temperatures falling into a bearable 80 degree range, Raines and the rest of the Busch competitors prepared for a night of close, door-handle-to-door-handle racing that makes short track events some of the most exciting racing NASCAR has to offer.  Raines, who received an IV bag to prevent dehydration prior to the race, tightened his belts as he focused on gaining ground in the NASCAR Busch Series points race with a strong performance in the Kroger 200.

Raines, who was working with interim crew chief Doug Richert for the first time, battled his way from his 20^th starting position up to 13^th place during the first 40 laps of the event.  Raines sliced his way through traffic on the strength of a great handling race car that was allowing him the ability to use both racing grooves to complete passes.  Raines raced two and sometimes even three wide as he raced for position with the cars of Kenny Wallace, Ashton Lewis and Jamie McMurray.  By lap 53, Raines had piloted the No. 33 Aleve Chevrolet into the top ten while running lap times as quick as leader Jason Keller. 

Lap 61 would bring out the caution flag as five cars were involved in a spectacular accident in turn one.  The accident, which collected the No. 36, 47, 54 and 26 machines, forced NASCAR officials to display the red flag to field until the track could be cleared and cleaned of debris.  Once the red flag was lifted, pit road became a flurry of activity as the majority of teams hit pit road for fresh tires and fuel. 

Raines was no exception; the Bayer Consumer Care team slapped on four fresh Goodyear tires and filled the car with fuel in just over 18 seconds.  In addition, the team made a slight air pressure adjustment to the right rear tire as well as putting a round of wedge in the left rear to help the cars minor loose condition through the center and up off of the corners.

With four cars staying on the track under the caution and a couple others electing to take only two tires, Raines would restart the race in the 15^th place spot with just over 66 laps in the books.  The next 15 laps would bring two caution periods including a second caution that collected the top running cars of Ashton Lewis and racing bothers Tim and Jay Sauter in turn one.

"Those changes got me a little too tight," responded Raines concerning the adjustments made under the last pit stop.

With the restart on lap 91, Raines would quickly show his short track prowess as he pushed and shoved his way back into the eighth place spot.  Raines put on a great racing show as he banged fenders and used the "chrome horn" to put himself into a position to gather in another top ten finish on the season.  As he had all night, Raines raced and battled the cars of Ricky Henderick, Stacy Compton and Todd Bodine for position.  In clear traffic, Raines could easily churn out lap times as quick as the leaders, however, heavy lap traffic as well as those cars biting on his rear bumper were enough to keep him busy as the track stayed green for nearly 80 laps until the yellow flag was displayed on lap 170 for debris.

Under the caution, the leaders hit pit road for fresh tires while Raines and the Bayer Consumer Care team decided to take a gamble and stay on the track in order to gain valuable track position.

"We can't give up the track position," radioed Richert.  "It has been the toughest thing for us to have to overcome tonight."  By staying out, Raines moved into the fourth place spot for the final 25 laps of the event. 

The restart would find Raines following the leaders as he worked to clear the lapped cars to the inside of the No. 33 Aleve Chevrolet.  Once in the clear, Raines would be able to hold onto the fourth spot until lap 188 when he was overcome by the cars of Greg Biffle and Jason Keller who had pitted for fresh tires under the last caution period.  Raines would fall three more spots over the final ten laps to finish the Kroger 200 in ninth position.

Raines' finish is his seventh top ten finish of the season and his fourth top ten finish in the last seven races.  In addition, Raines moved up one position to 12^th in the overall Busch Series Point Standings.

The Busch Series competitors have this coming weekend off and will resume racing on August 17^th at the Michigan International Speedway with the Cabela's 200 event.