Raines Finishes a Disappointing 35th at RIR

RICHMOND, VA (September 6, 2003) - There is a popular country song with a line that says, "Sometimes you're the windshield, Sometimes you're the bug." Well, NASCAR Winston Cup driver Tony Raines played both parts in that equation during the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 on Saturday night at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway (RIR).

Raines scored a 20th place starting spot for the race during Friday's qualifying session, a major accomplishment after struggling early in the first practice session. The real improvement was shown in Happy Hour where Raines finished sixth in the final session.

"We made some pretty big changes from practice to qualifying, especially with the shocks," said Raines. "We also had a busted ball joint during practice that may have caused some of the problems that I was feeling so we're pretty happy with starting 20th."

Raines would not stay in the 20th position for long after taking the green flag on Saturday evening. By lap 11, he had easily moved up nine positions into the 11th spot. Spotter Terry Wooten reminded Raines to "keep your rhythm" and to "take care of the right front tire". A spin on the backstretch by the No. 31 car brought out the first caution flag fell on lap 23. Raines radioed that the car was a little tight in the center of the corners.

"I'm taking it a little easy right now," radioed Raines. "I know this is a long race. If I drive the car a little harder, it's not as tight so I think that we are fine."

If Raines' statement alone did not let Crew Chief Larry Carter know how well his No. 74 car was running, the next green flag run sealed it. Raines took the restart on lap 28 from the 11th position. Two laps later he passed Johnny Benson for the tenth position and two laps after that easily moved around the No. 54 of Todd Bodine for ninth.

On lap 38, Raines powered past the No. 6 of Mark Martin for the eighth position. The second caution flag of the event fell on lap 65 for a spin by the No. 16 car in turn three. Raines brought his No. 74 BACE Motorsports Chevrolet down pit road for service. The BACE crew changed four tires, added fuel and pulled a spring rubber out of the left rear before returning the No. 74 back to the track.

Raines took the restart on lap 68 from the 15th position. He moved into the 14th spot on lap 74 when he passed the No. 1 machine of John Andretti. On lap 83, the third caution flag fell and the No. 25 machine beat Raines to the line placing him in the 15th position.

"It's starting to get a little loose," Raines said. "I'm also smelling a little bit of fuel as well but it is nothing too strong."

Raines took the restart on lap 88 from the 14th position but the loose condition continued and he slipped back to 17th as the fourth caution fell on lap 94 for a multi-car pile-up.

"We've definitely got a problem, Larry," radioed Raines. "The smell of fuel is really strong."

With that, Raines entered pit road and the BACE crew opened to the hood to realize they had a broken fuel pump. The only choice was to bring the No. 74 behind the wall for repairs. Upon further examination, it became clear that the diaphragm, a rubber piece inside of the fuel pump, had a cut in it allowing the fuel to leak on the front of the engine. Raines remained behind the wall for 40 laps while the BACE crew changed the fuel pump.

After returning to the track, Raines was relegated to running in the back of the field even though he still had a very strong car. Around lap 340, Raines proved just how strong his car was when he posted a lap time of 21.892 seconds almost two-tenths of a second quicker than any other car on the race track.

Raines would finish the event in the 35th position, forty laps behind the winner Ryan Newman.

"It's disappointing to say the least," said Raines. "The car was excellent. I took the green flag and I could drive it anywhere I wanted to on the race track. It is definitely the best car that I've driven all year and without the problem with the fuel pump, I think that we easily could have challenged for a top-five finish."
The 35th place finish places team owner Bill Baumgardner in the 39th position in the NASCAR Winston Cup Owners Point Standings. Raines held his 37th place position in the driver point standings.

Next weekend Tony Raines and the BACE Motorsports Team return to the New Hampshire International Speedway for the Sylvania 300. The race will air live on Sunday, September 14th at 1:00 p.m. EDT with coverage beginning at 12:30 p.m. EDT on the TNT Television network and the Motor Racing Network (MRN) affiliates.