Raines Rolls To A Fifth Place Performance In Kansas

KANSAS CITY, KS (September 28, 2002) After a disappointing 11th place finish last weekend at the "Monster Mile" in Dover, Delaware, Tony Raines was focused on returning to form as the Busch Series competitors rolled into the Kansas Speedway for the series' lone stop at the newly constructed 1.5 mile speedway. Raines, who qualified his Alka-Seltzer Chevrolet in the 25th place spot, wasted no time in charging towards the front of the field on his way to a solid fifth place finish in the Mr. Goodcent's 300. It was Raines fifth top-five and 11th top ten finish of the 2002 season.

On Friday, Raines posted a qualifying speed of 171.369 mph (31.511 seconds) to place him 25th on the grid for the start of Saturday afternoon's Mr. Goodcent's 300. The Bayer Consumer Care Team's "Happy Hour" session would prove productive as the team made minor changes to the No. 33 machine's spring and shock combinations to end the session as the fifth fastest car on the board.

"The car is handling fairly well," commented Raines following the session. "We will just have to be patient in picking our through traffic tomorrow. Obviously we didn't qualify where we would have liked, but it's a long race and I think we have a car capable of running up front."

Under sunny skies and a cool breeze, the Busch competitors roared to the start of the Mr. Goodcent's 300, the 28th event of the season. As with the start of most Busch Series events, the caution flag would fly early as the No. 77 and 30 machines made contact on lap two sending both cars spinning in turn four. After the restart on lap 13, it would take only two laps for the second caution of the afternoon to fly for Ricky Hendricks single car spin on the frontstrectch. With just a few green flag laps under his belt, Raines had already advanced six positions to 19th with the restart on lap 16.

By lap 27, Raines would move into the 14th place spot as he set his sights on the moving the Alka-Seltzer Chevrolet into the top-ten for the first time on the afternoon.

"I have got a severe vibration coming off the corners," radioed Raines to his crew on lap 28. "It feels like it may be a wheel."

"Lap times are fine," responded Crew Chief Michael Kadlecik. "It is up to you whether or not you need to come down pit road to get it fixed. Everyone in the pits stay ready."

A good finish always comes with a little timely luck, for Raines, his break came in the form of the third caution of the race on lap 30 for an accident involving the No. 63 machine.

Raines would be the 14th car on pit road as he slid his Alka-Seltzer Chevy into its stall for four fresh tires and a tank full of fuel. No adjustments would be made to the car as only tape would be removed from the cars grill to help lower the cars water temperature. Raines was down and away in 17.0 seconds and would re-enter the track in the 17th place spot.

The next ten laps would breed two separate cautions that would force Raines to take evasive action to avoid being caught up in an event ending accident.

With the restart on lap 48, Raines would be stacked nose to tail as he battled the No. 12, 37 and 18 machines for position in an effort to gain valuable track position. "I am a little loose into the corners," responded Raines.

However, by lap 60, Raines had piloted the No. 33 machine into the tenth position as he tucked in behind points leader Greg Biffle. "Keep motoring," responded spotter Brian Baumgardner. "You are running those cars in front of you down."

Motoring wasn't the word for it. Over the next ten laps, Raines would charge past the ninth place car of Biffle, the eighth place machine of Jeff Green and then move into the seventh place spot on lap 70 as he worked his way under and by the No. 26 machine of Ron Hornaday.

Once Raines got by these competitors, he set sail on running down those cars positioned in the top five by churning out the fastest lap times on the track. It was just 15 laps later that Raines would move into the sixth place spot. Raines would remain sixth over the next 25 laps until green flag pit stops on lap 106.

Once on pit road, the Bayer Consumer Care Team ripped off a quick 15.8-second stop with no adjustments to re-enter Raines back onto the track in the seventh place spot. Raines would quickly return to form as he continued to match lap times equal to or better than the race leader.

The sixth caution of the day would fly for debris on lap 130. Since the team's fuel window was approximately 75 laps, the team optioned to follow the leaders down pit road for the final stop of the afternoon. The team could now make it the rest of the way on fuel.

"I am still pretty loose," radioed Raines as he entered pit road. The Bayer Consumer Care Team out done themselves with a 15.3 second stop that included a left rear wedge adjustment to help in tightening up the cars loose handling condition. Raines would restart the race on lap 134 in the eighth place spot.

The next 20 laps would feature three separate cautions that would keep the track under the yellow flag until the restart following Michael Waltrip's accident on lap 161. With just 40 laps remaining, Raines would quickly go to work as he worked around the No. 21 and 57 machines to move from seventh to fifth on lap 175. Raines would ride in the fifth place spot over the next 25 laps to bring home his fifth top five finish of the season, his second top-five in three races.

"We had a really strong car out there today," commented Raines following the event. "Lapped traffic before and after that last caution cost us a lot of time and probably a position or two, but that is racing. The guys in the pits did an awesome job today. It feels good to come out of here with a solid finish."

With that finish, Raines and the Bayer Consumer Care Team remain in 11th spot in the overall point standing, but have shortened the distance to 130 points to the 10th place spot held by Randy Lajoie.

The Busch Boys' next event will take place on October 12th at the Lowe's Motor Speedway.