Tony Raines Lowe's Motor Speedway Preview

Raines and Bayer Team Embrace a Fresh Start in Charlotte

Upcoming Race:  Carquest Auto Parts 300.  Tony Raines and the rest of the Busch Series competitors head to "Humpy's House of Speed" for race No. 13 of the 34 scheduled events.  The Lowe's Motor Speedway is a 1.5-mile quad-oval that is considered the home track for the majority of Winston Cup and Busch Series teams.  The track, which features 24 degree banking at both the north and south ends of the speedway, has played host to some of the most exciting Busch Series events in the history of the sport.  The Carquest Auto Parts 300 consist of 200 laps or 300 miles and will offer a purse of $954,828, a record for the event.  Television coverage for the race will be handled by FOX beginning at 1pm EST while PRN will kick off it's radio broadcast of the event at 12:15 pm EST.    

Previous Race: Stacker 2 200.  Tony Raines headed to the Nazareth Speedway for the Stacker 2 200 on a mission to deliver a solid finish that would point his Bayer Consumer Care Team in the right direction for the remainder of the season.  Over the past seven events, Raines and his No. 33 crew have been victimized by untimely misfortune that have erased solid performances and replaced them with unspectacular finishes.  In Nazareth, however, Raines and his team capitalized on great pit strategy and a timely caution to bring the No. 33 Aleve Chevrolet home with a tenth place finish.  Raines third top-ten finish of the season.  "I think it is a step in the right direction," commented Raines following the race.  "We needed to stop the bleeding.  We have just went too long without a good finish, so to come out of Nazareth with a top-ten is something that I think we can build on for the coming weeks."

Raines' Ride:  Tony Raines will be piloting a brand new chassis this weekend at the Lowe's Motor Speedway.  An independent chassis specialist constructed the chassis for the team.  The No. 33 Chevrolet will feature the Bayer Consumer Care brand of Alka-Seltzer as the primary sponsor for the fourth time this season.  The Bayer Consumer Care Team tested the new chassis during the open test session at LMS just over two weeks ago in preparation for the Carquest Auto Parts 300.  Raines produced the fourth fastest speed among participating Busch drivers by notching a lap of 173.299 mph.  "The test went okay," commented Raines.  "I am really curious as to how this weekend will work out.  We had a car that drove really well.  It wasn't super fast but it was really comfortable.  I could drive it anywhere I wanted in turns one and two.  I had a little push in turns three and four but I think with the information we gained from the test that we can make the minor adjustments to correct that problem.  A comfortable race car is usually a good indication that the car will race well.   I think we may have us a hot-rod Cadillac.

Tony Raines on Racing at Lowe's Motor Speedway: "You always like to do well in front of your peers.  Everybody lives here, everybody works here.  Running at Charlotte is always a big race, always has been.  If we can get out of there with a solid finish, it just makes you feel good all week.  You've slept in your own bed, your friends are here, you family is here and it just makes for a real nice day to finish the week on a high note."

Tony Raines on the Keys to Running Well at LMS:  "It is hard to run well at Charlotte.  It is really a tricky track to try to get a hold on.  It's tough, it's finicky, it's fast.  It has all the things in it that you can imagine that would make it hard."

"The track changes so drastically.  In the morning, when it is cool, you go out and turn a really fast lap and think you have your car dialed in.  Then in the afternoon, when the sun comes out, everything changes.  It is unbelievable how much different the same car can be at 1 o'clock than it was at 9 o'clock in the morning.  It takes experience to trust yourself and the set-up you have in the car.  Otherwise you are going to end up dialing yourself out."

Tony Raines on LMS Two Groove Racing Surface:  "I'll drive my car anywhere it goes, but I haven't been smart enough to figure out how to make my car run really well in the top groove at Charlotte.  I run on the bottom at Charlotte every time I have raced there.  You can win the race by running well on either the top or the bottom.  I think it just ends up being where your car likes to be and if the driver is willing to put it there."

Crew Chief Michael Kadlecik on Racing at LMS:  "We are taking a brand new car to Charlotte and are excited about the way it should perform.  It turned some decent speeds and was a very drivable car.  It was a good test for us."