Raines Delivers Best Finish of 2003 in the Kroger 300

SPARTA, KY (June 16th, 2001) Sunday in Kentucky, Tony Raines served notice that he and his team are focused and determined on finding victory lane and making their presence known as the Busch Series schedule rolls toward the mid-way point of the season.

After heavy downpours halted the racing action on Saturday night at lap 86, Raines would have to wait nearly 19 hours to deliver a third place finish and the team's best finish of the 2003 season. The wait was long, but it was well worth it for Raines and the Bayer Consumer Care Team. With his third place finish, Raines matched last season's performance at the Kentucky Speedway when he piloted his No. 33 machine from a 24th starting spot to finish in the third place spot.

On Friday, 48 teams attempted qualifying runs as the field was set for the Kroger 300 presented by Oreo. Raines piloted his No. 33 Aleve Chevrolet around the 1.5-mile tri-oval to the tune of 31.851 seconds at a speed 169.539. Raines' lap would place him 30th on the grid for the start of the event on Saturday night. "Loose, Loose, Loose," commented Raines about his cars handling characteristics during the qualifying lap. After a disappointing qualifying effort, Raines and team would hit on a competitive race set-up combination as the team would show 12th fastest on the speed charts during the rain-shortened final practice session on Friday evening.

With the drop of the green flag on Saturday night, Raines and 42 other Busch competitors roared to the start of the 16th event of the 2003 season. The exciting racing weekend would start out with a bang as the caution would fly for the first time on lap two as Stanton Barrett backed his No. 91 machine into the turn three fence. With the restart on lap five, Raines began to patiently pick off the No. 31, 20 and 92 cars as he searched to get a good feel of how his car was performing during the early part of the race. By lap 24, Raines would be shown in the 23rd place spot and gaining on another tightly packed group of race cars.

"Talk to me about your car," radioed Crew Chief Michael Kadlecik.

"I am loose in a tight off," responded Raines. "Especially coming off of turn two."

With the caution flag being displayed to field for a accident involving Hank Parker Jr. on lap 32, Raines directed the No. 33 Aleve Chevrolet to the service of his crew. With a quick four tire stop that included both track bar and air pressure adjustments to free the car up off of turn two, Raines would re-enter the race track in the 20th place spot for the restart on lap 36.

The track would stay green until lap 42 when a spin in turn two brought out the third caution on the night. "This thing feels tighter than it was before," responded Raines about the cars handling following the changes that were made during the pit stop. "I am not sure if the tight condition is worse or if it is just because I have been tucked up in heavy traffic. Let's run a little longer and see how it responds before we decide which way to go with the changes." Raines and the team elected not to pit under the caution period and would move up to the 18th place spot with the restart on lap 46.

Over the next 25 laps, Raines would pilot the No. 33 Aleve Chevrolet into the 13th place spot as he battled the No. 40, 2 and 37 machines for track position. "Easy in, hard off," radioed Kadlecik to his driver. "You are running them down." Raines would avoid trouble on lap 68 as the No. 18 machine smacked the wall in front of Raines to bring out the fourth caution.

"It is still a little too tight," commented Raines.

"If the leaders come, you follow," instructed Kadlecik to his driver.

Under the yellow, Raines stayed out and found himself in the 10th place spot when the race restarted on lap 72. Raines would battle to solidify the No. 33 car in the top-10 until the caution was once again displayed to the field for an accident involving points leader Jack Sprague and the No. 25 car of Bobby Hamilton Jr. With heavy rains headed toward the track, Kadlecik instructed Raines not to pit under the yellow flag. This strategy would place Raines fifth on the board when the race was brought to a halt due to inclement weather. After nearly a two-hour delay, NASCAR officials called the race and rescheduled it for Sunday at 1 pm.

Under clear skies on Sunday, the restart would find Raines headed to pit road for four "scuffed" tires and fuel. Raines would exit pit road in the 21st position and tighten his belts for the final 110 laps of the Kroger 300.

Right away, Raines would notice the car to still be handling a little on the tight side. Lap 105 would provide Raines a chance to correct the problem by adding a spring rubber to the right rear and topping the car off with fuel under the caution flag for a two-car accident in turn two.

The restart would allow Raines to quickly bust through the field as he took advantage of a botched restart by several cars positioned in front of the No. 33 machine. Raines would jump to the high line on the restart and move from his 17th starting position up to the 13th place spot in less than one lap. From here, Raines settled in as he attempted to run down the cars positioned in the top-ten. However, Raines held an "ace in the hole" as other cars that did not pit for fuel under the last caution were forced down pit road to the attention of their crews. After the leaders had cycled through their stops, Raines found himself running in the fourth place spot with on 40 laps remaining in the race.

Lap 173 would throw the fuel strategy advantage out the window as the caution would wave and Raines would head to pit road for four fresh Goodyear tires and fuel. Raines would restart in the sixth position.

The restart would find Raines busting into the top-five by passing the No. 10, 27 and 12 machines as he set his sights on the No. 60 and 92 cars that were battling for the lead.

The final caution of the race would fall on lap 195 for oil and NASCAR would subsequently red flag the event in order to produce a green flag finish.

On the restart, Todd Bodine and Greg Biffle would race door to door for the win with Bodine edging forward for the victory by only three thousands of a second. Raines would cross the finish line in a close third as he had a birds eye view of the action and what he hoped would be an opportunity to collect his first Busch Series win.

"This year has been pretty tough for us so this is a great finish for us," Raines stated. "It seems we've been running well all season and have had things happen out of our control so hopefully this helps to turn things around for us."

"Last night I thought we had a pretty good car," Raines continued. "At the start of the race today it seemed tight in the center of the corners and tight off so we had to make adjustments during the day. I think the car was still pretty good but we probably were not as strong as the No. 92 car."

"It looked like a pretty exciting finish in front of me," Raines stated when asked about Biffle and Bodine racing door to door for the win. "Actually it was pretty exciting until Biffle spun in the grass right in front of me and I thought that I was going to wreck the car in the last 150 feet of the race. I had no doubt they were going to wreck, I just wish they had started earlier," Raines joked. "You know with those two participants, that was a guaranteed crash."

With this finish, Raines advances two positions in the point standings to 16th and only 294 points out of 10th.

The No. 33 Bayer Consumer Care team will take a week off before they head to the Milwaukee Mile on June 30. Raines is very familiar with the Milwaukee facility through his racing years on the ASA tour.