Tony Raines Kentucky Preview
Raines Sets His Sights on Another Strong Finish at Kentucky
Upcoming Race: Kroger 300-Presented by
Oreo- Tony Raines will look to
pilot his No. 33 Bayer Consumer Care Chevrolet to a second consecutive top-five
finish at the 1.5 mile Kentucky Speedway on Saturday night. Raines notched a
third place finish in the inaugural event at Kentucky in 2001 after posting a 24th
place qualifying effort. Raines will feature the Bayer Consumer Care brand
colors of Aleve for the fourth time this season.
Previous Race: Traxx 300.
The Traxx 300 at the Nashville Superspeedway was a roller coaster ride for Tony
Raines and the No. 33 team. After qualifying in the 30th place
position, the team was forced to unload the back-up car after Raines was
involved in an accident during the final practice session. Raines would start
the race in the 43rd position.
At the drop of the green flag, Raines began
picking his way through heavy traffic as he battled to stay on the lead lap
while running in the 24th place position. Raines would lose a lap to
leader Jack Sprague until a timely caution would allow Raines to get back around
Sprague to remain on the lead lap. Raines would patiently work his way into the
13th place position until a two-tire stop under the yellow flag
vaulted Raines into the third place spot. However, Raines' hopes of finding his
way to the head of the line would quickly fade due to a flat right rear tire
that was the result of contact with the No. 21 car of Jay Sauter shortly after
the restart. Raines immediately hit pit road to change the tire and finished
the night in the 22nd place spot. With that finish, Raines remains
18th in the overall driver standings for the NASCAR Busch Series
championship title chase.
The Ride:
Tony Raines will be piloting chassis No.25 this
weekend at the Kentucky Speedway. This chassis is the very same race car that
delivered a third place performance at Kentucky last season and will hit the
track for the first time in the 2002 season.
Tony Raines on his incident with the
No. 21 car and Jay Sauter in Nashville:
"The key to running well in Kentucky for me will
be avoiding the No. 21 car. I am really disappointed. We worked really hard
after wrecking the primary car and then some people don't have enough common
sense to hurt themselves. He has always been that way, so it really isn't any
surprise to me."
Tony Raines on last season's success at
Kentucky: "We struggled a little
bit in qualifying and were fairly decent in "happy hour". After the session, we
changed a couple of things and when the green flag dropped she was a rocket. We
took off and went to the front. We had some good stops. It was your standard
business day.
Last year the track was real rough, but I
understand that they have repaved the surface and it is pretty smooth. I don't
know what to expect. In NASCAR racing there are no guarantees. Just because
you run good there once doesn't mean it will automatically do the same again.
We will have to earn our keep."
Crew Chief Michael Kadlecik on Set-up
for Kentucky: "At all these
tracks you are looking for a certain amount of shock travel in the center of the
turn. Doesn't matter if it is a two-mile flat, high-banked mile or a 1.5-mile
flat tri-oval. Your want your geometry and your shock travel to meet at the
same point. That's when your car will be going pretty good. We are going to
the track looking for particular numbers and whatever we have to do to achieve
those numbers seems to working pretty well."
Current Standings:
Raines currently sits in 18th place
in the NASCAR Busch Series driver's point standings with 1463 points to his
credit. Raines has notched three top-ten finishes this season and has collected
over $262,370 in winnings so far in 2002.
Tony Raines Past Performances at Kentucky
Year
Start
Finish
2001
24 3
Avg. Start- 24th
Avg. Finish- 3rd
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