| Dover, DE - Rain was the story for most of the weekend at the Dover Down's "Monster Mile" track. The Busch Grand National Series was able to get their first practice session in on Friday morning, but the downpour would disable them to get both qualifying and final practice in before Saturday's event. The starting grid for the MBNA Platinum 200 reflected that of current point standings. For Tony Raines, this meant an 8th position start.
It was raining when the green flag dropped for the first time shortly after 1:00pm and the caution flew at the end of lap one as the cars made their way down pit road on a very slick racetrack. The race was red-flagged for a little over two hours. The drivers and crews waited for the skies to clear and just after 3:30pm the sun started to peak out. It was just enough for the track to dry and the race to resume.
Raines stayed in the top 10 for the first part of the race. He did radio in, however, that the car was very tight in the turns. The crew made changes to the air pressure under the caution on lap 50 and changed four tires. This sent Tony back into the race in the 8th place.
A few laps later Raines radioed in that the car was still tight. Shortly, thereafter, the caution was thrown for more rain on lap 127 of the 200-lap race. The cars parked on pit road for another rain delay. The race was restarted for the final time shortly after 5:00pm.
Pit road was open after the restart and Raines came in to pit with the leaders. The crew made additional adjustments to make the car better for Tony. When Tony returned to the field, he was down one lap. With all of the rain the track conditions changed radically. The No. 33 Aleve car was starting to improve on the way it was handling.
After the fifth out of a total of nine cautions, Tony was the first car one lap down. He was able to get his lap back on the restart. Raines was able to work his way back to the top ten in the remaining laps of the race. His tenth place finish was his seventh top-ten finish of the season and also moved him up one position in the points standings to be seventh. Close to the halfway point of the season, Raines has accumulated 1,810 points and is only 90 points from the fifth spot.
"Another top ten, we'll take it," Raines said after the race. "The rain really hurt us in terms of not knowing how we needed set the car up. With only one practice before the race, it's kind of hard to speculate on race set up. When we went out for the first practice we knew the rain was coming, so we made several race runs. We had great pit strategy all day," Raines commented. He continued, "I have to thank Bobby Hamilton, Jr. for giving us our lap back. We just need to keep doing what we are doing, it just keeps getting better for us."
The NASCAR Busch Series enjoys a weekend off before returning to racing action on June 16th at the Kentucky Speedway for the Inaugural Outback Steakhouse 300.
The No. 33 Bace Motorsports Bayer Consumer Care crew will have Friday off in trade of all of the hard work and long hours they put in at the race shop and at the track each weekend. Here is what some of the crewmembers will be doing during their three-day weekend.
Rich Lavalette "Haskell" (Rear Tire Changer)- "I am going to the beach (Myrtle). I am changing tires for a Hooters Cup team at the Myrtle Beach Speedway Saturday night."
Glenn Hilchey (Gas Man)- "I am taking the family to the beach (Myrtle). We are going to fly kites, go swimming, eat, drink and be merry."
Ryan McKinney (Front Tire Changer)- "Going to the lake (Norman) all weekend."
Josh Yost (Jack Man)- "I am going to a friend's wedding that works for Joe Gibbs. I will probably go to the lake (Norman) for most of the weekend."
Britt Caulder (Tire Carrier)- "Going to the beach (Myrtle). I am also helping out the same team as Haskell in the Hooter's Cup Series. I will be carrying tires."
Ashley Hilchey "AJ" (Catch Can Man)- "I gonna help a buddy this weekend that is racing a modified car."
Michael Kadlecik (Crew Chief)- "Planting trees all weekend in the yard."
|