Raines Hopes to Deliver a Successful Double Dip In Front of Hometown Fans

Previous Event:  Tony Raines and the No. 33 team limped home with a 35^th place finish in the Netzero 250 at Pikes Peak International Raceway.  Raines and the team found trouble during the early going of the event when the car's left side lead weight fell out causing damage to the No. 33 machine as well as the machines of a number of Raines' fellow Busch competitors.  Raines was forced to pull behind the wall to repair the damage.  However, Raines would return to the track and finish the event 61 laps down to eventual winner Hank Parker Jr.

On the Move:  Raines has used the strength of three (3) top-five finishes in his last six events to jump five positions from 18^th to 13^th in the overall NASCAR Busch Series point standings.  Over the span of these six events, Raines has amassed 776 points and, excluding his finish at Pikes Peak, has posted an average finish of 8.8 in the previous five events.  Raines has now scored three (3) top-five and six (6) top-ten finishes on the season.

Busy Homecoming:  Raines, who began his racing career back in 1984 by competing in the street stock division at South Bend Speedway and Anderson Speedway, is a native of LaPorte, Indiana.  LaPorte is located approximately 100 miles north of the Indianapolis Metro Area.

In addition to running IRP on Saturday night, Raines will look to compete in his second NASCAR Winston Cup event by attempting to qualify for the Brickyard 400.  Raines qualified earlier this year for the Winston Cup event at the Dover Downs International Raceway.  Raines' schedule will begin Friday afternoon with Winston Cup practice at The Brickyard.

"It is going to be a big, busy weekend, so hopefully it will pan out to be worth it," said Raines.  "The plan is to use a helicopter to get where we need to go on time, but we may end up having to hustle back and forth in a car.  All in all, it will be an interesting weekend."

Post Weekend Stress Reliever:  Following his busy racing weekend in Indianapolis, Raines will take a trip to Sturgis, SD to relax at the yearly world famous motorcycle rally.  Raines will head back to Charlotte Sunday night and catch a plane to South Dakota on Monday morning.  Raines is having his motorcycles towed to Sturgis and will spend over a week enjoying one of his more favorite pastimes with a group of friends.

Up-Coming Event:        Kroger 200- Indianapolis Raceway Park-

                                    Brickyard 400- Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Tony Raines heads back to his hometown state of Indiana as he prepares for a big weekend of racing and the opportunity to compete on one of the largest stages the NASCAR Winston Cup Series has to offer, the Brickyard 400.

Come Saturday night, Raines will look to pilot his yellow and red Bayer Chevrolet to a solid finish at the tough, .686 mile Indianapolis Raceway Park (IRP).  In three previous visits to IRP as a Busch Series Competitor, Raines has notched one (1) top-ten finish at this short track bullring.  In addition to running at IRP as a Busch Series competitor, Raines has also sat behind the wheel of a NASCAR Craftsman Truck for an event at IRP, placing fourth here during the 1998 season.

-TONY RAINES CAREER STATS AT IRP-

Raines on his Racing Weekend:  "I enjoy running at IRP, this type of short track racing is really what I am used to.  I have had some good runs in the Busch car here in the past, so I am looking for a strong run here on Saturday.  We need to rebound from our bad day this past weekend in Pikes Peak.  We need to get our act back together and do well."

"IRP is always a lot of fun for me because I am from the area and I always have a lot of friends and family come to watch me race.  Hopefully, I can deliver a good show."

"Having the opportunity to make The Brickyard would be really cool.  I think our test up here a few weeks ago went so, so.  We need to be a little faster to assure ourselves a spot in the race, but we weren't that far off in our set-up from what we need to be competitive.  I was pretty optimistic when we left there.  I was thinking if we could work on that car and improve it, which I know we can, we have got a good shot at making the show and heading our Winston Cup program in the right direction. I am really excited and looking forward to this opportunity."

During open testing at The Brickyard, Raines posted the 27^th overall speed at a lap of 177.448 mph.

The Money Maker:  Raines and the No. 33 Bayer Consumer Care team will take their "Money Maker" to IRP for this weekend's event.  The "Money Maker" has delivered three (3) top-five finishes in three starts so far during the 2002 season.  Chassis No. 25 was developed and built as an in-house piece of BACE Motorsports.

A Little Help.  Former BGN crew chief, Doug Richert, will help handle the crew chief duties for the No. 33 Bayer Chevrolet for the next two Busch events at IRP and Michigan International Speedway.  Michael "Dover" Kadlecik has been assigned special duties work for the next few weeks and will resume his position as chief wrench for the August 23^rd event at Bristol Motor Speedway.