Raines Recovers from Lap One Wreck to Finish 31st

Taking the green flag on Friday night in the Bashas' Supermarkets 200, Tony Raines and the entire RoadLoans.com racing team looked ahead to 200 laps of racing and a chance to move a very fast No. 33 RoadLoans.com Chevrolet to the front of the 43-car field.  Those hopes, however, took a wrong turn when Raines was caught up in a multi-car wreck before he would complete one full circuit around the 1.0-mile track.

With Shane Huffman and Aric Almirola making contact together going into turn three, Raines tried to slow down to avoid the trouble only to suffer heavy damage to the right side of the RoadLoans.com Chevrolet. “Where did the No. 88 come from?  He just turned right into me,” radioed Raines. The only option for Raines was to drive the No. 33 directly to the garage.

Once there, the RoadLoans.com crew worked hard to repair the heavily damaged car, always focused on getting back on the track.  Crew chief Dan Stillman orchestrated a total team effort to repair the right front of the car.  As the laps counted down on the track, the full crew worked to repair, remove and replace parts on the No. 33 machine. 

The end result was Raines rejoining the race on lap 21.  With four cars already in the garage, Raines and crew knew if they could run 13 laps they would pick up four positions and finish the day in 39th. Over the next 22 laps the RoadLoans.com Chevrolet maintained race speed, while cruising around the track. “Let’s run the whole race.  I think the car is good and if we keep running like we are right now we can pick up more positions,” said Raines on lap 43, while sitting in the 38th position.

With the result a forgone conclusion, the rest of the night became an exercise in patience and practice as Raines ran in the back of the lead pack, but never loosing another lap throughout the night. Staying on the track and out of further trouble would eventually see Raines and team gain 12 spots and take the checkered flag in 31st position, a very good finish considering the misfortune on the first lap. “We came back out on the track 21 laps down to the leader and finished the event 21 laps down, so good job Tony and thanks for finishing the race,” said Stillman after the race.

"I am sorry about today guys, I tried to slow up to avoid the wreck, but there was nothing I could do," said Raines.  "We were very unlucky to get caught up in the problems on lap one, but Dan and the crew did a great job getting me back on the track."

With nine races already in the books, the No. 33 Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) Chevrolet currently sits eighth in the NASCAR Busch Series Owner point standings.

Next up for the No. 33 KHI Chevrolet: Tony Stewart will drive the No. 33 Old Spice Chevrolet in the Aaron’s 312 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.  Live coverage of the event begins Saturday, April 28 at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (ET) on ESPN2. The race will also be covered live on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio.