Tony Raines No. 33 Camping World Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS Dover 200 Race Recap

Raines Records First Top-10 of the Season at Monster Mile

Tony Raines made big strides after a tough start to the 2007 NASCAR Busch Series season.  Raines’ season best finish to date came at the Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway where he took the checkered flag in the 23rd position. After qualifying on the outside of row 14 at the Monster Mile, Raines knew he had a good enough car to drive to the front of the field.  When the green flag dropped, the No. 33 Camping World Chevrolet had some handling problems, but eventually crossed the start/finish line in the eighth position.  With a season best finish by Raines, the No. 33 Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet jumped one spot in the NASCAR Busch Series Owner’s point standings, moving into the sixth spot, just 106 points behind third place car owner Jack Roush.

After starting 28th, the LaPorte, Ind. native had his hands full with a tight race car.  Over the first 40 laps, Raines drove just outside the top-20 before the second caution flag waved. During the caution, crew chief Dan Stillman summoned the No. 33 Camping World Chevrolet to pit road.  The Camping World pit crew went to work changing four tires, adding fuel and going one round up on the track bar.

As the laps wore down, Raines worked his way up to the 15th-position by lap 70. “Keep doing what you are doing Tony and you will catch the leaders,” said spotter Rick Carelli. The caution-flag flew over the field on lap 85 and it was time for another round of pit stops. The Camping World team jumped over the concrete wall changing four tires and adding fuel to Raines’ car. As the field returned to green-flag racing on lap 90, Raines was running 14th.

It didn't take long for the fourth caution to fly over the one-mile oval.  This gave Raines the opportunity to notify the crew that the No. 33 Camping World Chevy was a little too loose and needed changes if they wanted to continue a run to the front of the 43-car field.  Stillman called Raines onto pit road for four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment.

What appeared to be a great race for Raines on Saturday afternoon took a dramatic turn on lap 124 when the caution flag waved over the field.  Raines keyed the radio to alert the crew that he might have front right fender damage after making contact with Mike Bliss.  As the crew prepared on pit road, Raines drove the damaged Chevrolet safely around the track.  Once the Camping World Chevrolet made it to pit road, the crew quickly surveyed the damage, before sending Raines back out on the track.  With debris all over the frontstretch, NASCAR red flagged the race.  This gave the Camping World pit crew enough time to huddle up and figure out how they would repair the damaged fender.  Once the red flag was waved off, Raines brought the No. 33 Chevrolet back down pit road so the crew could fix the damage.

Following the unscheduled pit stop, Raines found the groove he was looking for as he passed cars left and right until he popped back into the top-15 on lap 165. As the 33 car’s handling tightened, he slowly slid back in the pack, but remained in reach of the leaders when the caution flag came out on lap 172. 

Through two restarts over the final 25 laps, Raines was able to gain six positions crossing the start/finish line in the eighth position.   “I am so happy that I finally gave you guys a good run.  It has been a while, but I want to thank all of you for giving me a good car,” said Raines to the crew after the race. 

Next up for the No. 33 KHI Chevrolet: Cale Gale will drive the No. 33 Camping World Chevrolet in the Federated Auto Parts 300 Presented by Dollar General at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway.  Live coverage of the event begins Saturday, June 9, 2007 at 6:00 p.m. Central Standard Time (CT) on ESPN2. The race will also be covered live on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio.

STATS RECAP

Date: June 2, 2007
Track: Dover (Del.) International Speedway
Event Name: Dover 200
Race: 14 of 35
Driver: Tony Raines
Started: 28th
Finished: Eighth
Owner’s Point Standings: Sixth