Raines Posts Top-15 Finish at Charlotte Despite Late Race Mishap

CONCORD, NC (May 29, 2004) –In his past three races, NASCAR Busch Series driver Tony Raines has watched a chance at a top-10 finish erased by involvement in late race accidents. The scene at Lowe’s Motor Speedway this weekend was no different for the Indiana native as contact by the #46 of Ashton Lewis sent Raines’#74 Outdoor Channel Chevrolet spinning out of the top-10 with two laps remaining in the CARQUEST Auto Parts 300, resulting in a 12th place finish.

After determining on Monday that The Outdoor Channel Chevrolet would make the short trip to Lowe’s Motor Speedway to compete in Saturday’s Busch Series event, the BACE Team had their work cut out for them to get a brand new car ready to take to the track. Chassis #7436, built completely in-house at BACE Motorsports, made its debut this weekend on the 1.5-mile speedway. After posting the 11th quickest time in Friday’s morning practice session, Raines scored the 17th starting spot in qualifying.

“It’s a great job by this team to get this car ready to race in such a short time,”Raines said. “We were planning on taking this car to Dover but when we heard Charlotte was added to the schedule, the team had to make some adjustments to it to get it ready to run here. We’ve worked the bugs out today, as you have to with any new car, and I think we’ll be ready to move to the front in the race tomorrow.”

In the first 12 laps of the race, Raines easily advance his #74 Chevrolet into the 12th position, picking up six spots. During the first caution period of the day on lap 15, Raines reported to crew chief Mark Tutor that the car was pretty loose in to the turns and handled tight from the center of turns out. Raines took the restart on lap 21 but it would a short green flag run after the #12 car was involved in a single car accident in turn two. All lead cars would pit during the caution except for the #74 of Raines.

“Tony, we’re not going to come in during the caution,”radioed crew chief Mark Tutor. “We’ve only got three sets of tires to use under caution and I think it’s too early in the race to start using them now. I’d rather save them for later.”

Raines agreed with his head wrench but did jokingly comment that, “it felt lonely”on the track by himself. Taking the restart from the point position, Raines for the first time in his career lead a lap at the Lowe’s Motor Speedway but it would be short-lived as the cars with fresh tires powered by him. Just as Raines settled into the 11th spot, the third caution flag fell for an accident on the backstretch. Raines brought his Chevrolet down pit road for four fresh Goodyear Tires, two cans of Sunoco Racing Fuel and a track bar change and wedge adjustment.

Raines took the restart from the 35th position on lap 46 and within only 20 laps had moved into the 16th position. The fourth caution flag fell on lap 74 after driver Kasey Kahne spun in turn four. This time Raines followed the lead cars to pit road for service, including another wedge adjustment and air pressure adjustment. Taking the restart from the 20th position, Raines once again moved towards the top-10 advancing into the 14th position by lap 93.

The fifth caution flag fell on lap 104 for an accident involving the #4 and #39 cars. Raines did not pit during the caution flag but once the green flag fell for the restart, Raines thought he possibly had a flat rear tire. As he quickly lost position on track, Raines brought The Outdoor Channel Chevrolet to pit road under the green flag for four fresh tires. Unfortunately, Raines lost a lap when the caution flag fell just five laps later for an accident in turn four.

Raines would return to the lead lap during the sixth caution period of the race, as he was the first car one lap down. Raines took the restart on lap 137 from the 26th position as the last car on the lead lap. With the drop of the green flag, he started his mission to move into the top-10. Aiding his effort was a lightening-fast race car, at times the fastest on track, and consistently posting laps times on par with the lead cars.

By the time the eighth caution flag fell on lap 183 for a spin by leader Joe Nemechek, Raines had advanced into the 13th position. Poised to make another run at the top-10, Raines stayed out during the caution with enough fuel to run to the checker flag. On the restart, Raines moved into the 12th position and within four laps caught and passed the #99 of Michael Waltrip. Five laps later, Raines caught the #23 of Kenny Wallace and #46 of Ashton Lewis and made the pass into ninth. While clearing the #46 on the outside, Lewis moved up the track and into the rear quarter panel of Raines’#74 sending him spinning into the turn four wall. With severe damage to the rear of his Outdoor Channel Chevy, Raines took the caution flag and limped to the checker flag in the 12th position.

“There’s not a lot to say,”Raines commented after the race. “This team can’t seem to buy a break right now. We were planning on taking this car to Dover next week and I think it would have been just as good there, if not better, than it was here at Charlotte. We had a top-10 finish and I think that I could have gotten past another car or two before the end of the race but unfortunately I wasn’t allowed a chance to race in the closing laps.”

The next scheduled race for Tony Raines and The Outdoor Channel Chevrolet is the MBNA America 200 at Dover International Raceway on June 5. The green flag is scheduled to drop at 1 pm with television coverage starting on FX at 12:30 pm EST and radio coverage on MRN at 12:45 pm EST. Raines last competed in a Busch Series event at the “Monster Mile”last September running in the top-five for a good portion of the race before a part failure relegated him a 22nd place finish.