Raines Forced to Sing the Blues in Nashville
 As
the Busch Series headed to the Nashville Superspeedway for the seventh event of
2002 season, Tony Raines and his Bayer Consumer Care crew felt confident that
they could gain some much needed momentum in the hunt for a solid finish in the
Busch Series Championship point standings. Raines and the team tested the 1.366
mile concrete tri-oval several weeks prior to the event and felt confident that
the information gained from the test would prove to be beneficial to the
performance of the car come race time. However, after a strong qualifying
effort and a strong race performance, mechanical problems with 30 laps remaining
in the race would regulate Raines and his team to a 30th place finish
in the Pepsi 300.
On Friday, Raines had his eyes focused on
securing the team a solid starting spot for Saturday's event after a strong
early morning practice session. "When we unloaded we were in race trim and we
were really tight," said Raines. "We changed some springs, a sway bar and a set
of shocks. We got the car driving better and ran some decent laps during the
morning practice. Once we got the car taped up and did a qualifying run, we
were second on the board and ended up fourth in practice. I think because of
the test, we know where we need to be ballpark wise, we just need to find out
which side of that ballpark will be the best. A top-five or a top ten would be
good, but a pole would be nice." Raines' confidence in posting a strong
qualifying lap proved true as he piloted his No. 33 Alka-Selter/Dollar General
Chevrolet to a tenth place starting spot with a lap of 29.994 seconds at a speed
of 159.992 mph. "The car tightened up a little bit," said Raines following his
qualifying run. "We ran on scuffs (broken in tires) and I think I wished we
would have went on stickers (new tires), but that lap should get us inside the
top-ten and put us in a good starting spot for the race."
With a great starting spot for Saturday's
event, Raines tightened his belts and settled in for 225 laps around the tricky
Nashville Speedway. Through the early laps of the event, Raines battled drivers
Mike McLaughlin and Jamie McMurray as he worked his way into the eighth place
position when the caution flag flew for rain on lap 18. Although Raines was
gaining positions, he was still fighting a tight handling condition on the car
from the middle of the corner off the turn. "I am tight in the corner and tight
in the throttle," Raines told crew chief Michael Kadlecik. "My biggest problem
is getting the car to turn in the middle of the corner." On lap 41, Kadlecik
instructed Raines to hit pit road to correct the tight handling condition on the
car. The team raised the track bar two rounds and placed a spring rubber in the
right rear to fix the car's handling problems. Raines re-entered the track
running in the 36th place spot.
Only 15 laps after the re-start, Raines had
already worked his way up to the 19th place position when the yellow
flag flew for Greg Biffle's wreck on the front stretch. Under the caution,
Raines elected to stay on the track and moved up the third place position.
Raines would run third for the next 18 laps until the caution flag flew for the
third caution of the day. Raines once again decided to stay out on the track
instead of pitting. This pit strategy landed Raines at the front of the field
when the race re-started on lap 88. However, Raines would quickly drop to the
sixth place spot after being overtaken by cars with fresher tires. Raines would
continue to run in sixth until he was forced to pit for fuel on lap 123. "I am
out of gas," Raines relayed to his crew. The team had calculated the car to be
able to run until lap 124 but fell one lap short in their calculations. Once on
pit road, the Bayer Consumer Care team slapped on four tires, made another track
bar adjustment to correct the still tight handing race car and filled the car
with fuel. By having to pit under the green flag, Raines went one lap down to
the leaders. Raines was now being shown in the 22nd place position.
On lap 132, Raines caught the break he needed
when the caution flag flew for a wreck involving Hank Parker Jr. Raines would
now start on the tail end of the lead lap with the chance to make up the lap he
had lost while pitting under the green flag. Only two laps into the restart on
lap 140, the caution once again was waved to the field for an accident on the
backstretch. This timely caution allowed Raines to gain his lap back and placed
him in the 20th place position. "We were a top-ten car and had to
pit under the green," said Raines. "Of course the caution came out, but we were
able to get our lap back."
 With
the car back on the lead lap, Raines brought his No. 33 car, which featured a
special one-race partnership with Dollar General, down pit road for fresh
Goodyear's, fuel and a wedge adjustment. Over the next 55 laps, Raines would
patiently race his way into the 12th place position until the first
sign of trouble would make its presence known on lap 191. "I think the motor is
going away on this thing," Raines radioed to his crew. NASCAR would then force
Raines to pit road to find out why the car was smoking. The problem turned out
to be a broke fitting on the transmission. The mechanical failure ended Raines'
day with only 30 laps remaining in the race and credited him with a 30th
place finish after running in the top-10 for most of the afternoon.
"We scrapped and clawed and fought and still
got knocked out," said Raines following the race. "So what do you do. A
fitting on the transmission broke. The car actually wasn't that bad, we were a
little tight, but I still think that we had a top-ten car."
With that finish, Raines remains 16th
in the Busch Series point standings with 716 points to his credit. The next
Busch Series race is Saturday, April 20th at Talladega Superspeedway
in Talladega, Alabama.
Events of the Week
On Thursday, Raines was at the grand opening
of a Dollar General in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Raines signed autographs and
posed for photos with customers. Dollar General also gave away two tickets to
the Busch Series event during this special promotion. On Saturday, the No. 33
Bayer Consumer Care team was pleased to play host to four special guests prior
to the race. Debbie Watts, Bruce Taylor, Pam Christy and Ken Smith of
Dollar General took in the sites and sounds of the garage area before the start
of the Pepsi 300.
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