Bayer Consumer Care Racing Recap

Tony Raines Suffers Through a Run of Bad Luck in Vegas

LAS VEGAS, NV- Tony Raines' day at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway resembled a good run of luck gone bad in a city that is known for its share of taking more than it gives. After a ninth place finish in Rockingham last week and a fourth place finish in the 2001 Sam's Town 300, the Bayer Consumer Care team looked to this year's event as a great opportunity to notch its first victory of the 2002 season. Raines, who started the day in the 32nd place spot, found trouble on lap 118 going into Turn 1 when the car of Ricky Hendrick broke loose directly in front of Raines leaving him with little time to react and sending him hard into the outside retaining wall. Raines finished the day in 36th.

After a disappointing qualifying run on Friday, Raines expressed a few thoughts concerning his starting position and the team's plans for the event on Saturday. "The car is driving well and feels like it is handling good, but it is just not producing on the stop watch," said Raines. "We had the same problem out here last year. The car will race well, but its just no fun starting in the back." After a solid "Happy Hour" practice session, the team felt confident that it could work its way from the back of the pack much like it did during last year's event when Raines started 31st.

Raines started the day next to his BACE Motorsports teammate, Chad Little. Once the green flag flew, Raines began to work traffic until an early race caution on lap 13 presented the Bayer Consumer Care team with the opportunity to drop onto pit road and top the car off with fuel in an attempt to create a fuel mileage advantage for the team while giving up minimum track position. The early race decision would definitely prove to be an "ace in the hole" as the race went back to green on lap 18 with Raines re-starting in the 31st place spot. The Las Vegas Motor Speedway is a 1.5 mile tri-oval race track that allows the teams to run 60-67 green flag laps on a tank of fuel. By pitting to top off with fuel, Raines could now run to lap 88 compared to other competitors who could run only until lap 72. The race would stay caution free over the next 60 laps. Throughout this long green flag run, Raines battled his way up to 21st while fighting an extremely tight handling racecar. "The car is tight in the center of turns 1 and 2," Raines told Crew Chief Michael Kadlecik.

With the leader in his mirror and the threat of going a lap down biting on his bumper, Raines began to reap the benefits of the early stop for fuel during the first part of the race. Raines was able to stay on the lead lap after leader Jeff Burton and the majority of the field was forced to hit pit road for routine stops on lap 70. By the time everyone had cycled through their round of pit stops, Raines found himself at the top of the leader board for nine laps while keeping half the field one lap down. On lap 78, Raines was able to cash in on the fuel mileage strategy when the caution was thrown to the field for debris on the track. The caution helped keep many of the contending cars that had to pit under the green flag one lap down and allowed Raines to roll to the attention of his crew in an effort to correct the car's tight handling condition by lowering the track bar and making an air pressure adjustment to the tires. "We had good calls in the pits and crew worked hard on it. We were trying to make the most of what we had." Raines stated. "Staying on the lead lap is key in getting a good finish. We were better on long runs and had we been able to go on a long run it may have worked out in our favor."

Over the next 38 laps, Raines would find the going tough as he continued to fight the No. 33 car's tight handling problems and lack of engine horsepower down the straight-aways. A string of timely cautions just over the half-way point of the 200 lap event allowed the team to make minor adjustments in the pits in hopes of improving the handling characteristics of the car.

One lap 118, the luck that had seemed to carry Raines throughout the course of the race brought Raines, his car and his thoughts of a solid finish to an abrupt halt between turns 1 and 2 of the speedway. Turn 1 is the fastest part of the Las Vegas track. Cars are often traveling between 185-190 mph when they enter the turn. Raines was following driver Ricky Hendrick down into turn 1 when Hendrick's car began to spin directly in front of Raines. Raines evasive action to avoid the spinning car proved futile as the wreck collected Raines and sent him head on into the outside retaining wall. "He [Hendrick] got into one and his car just turned around on him. I started to step on the brakes and mine turned around," stated Raines following the accident. "I thought he either blew up or there was fluid on the track. I flew off of him and hit the wall head. It was a pretty good lick, but we will battle back."

Raines finished the day in 36th and fell to 25th in the overall Busch Series point standings. The Busch Series' next event will be held March 16th at the "Track Too Tough to Tame", Darlington Speedway in Darlington, SC.

Did you know that while in Las Vegas….

Tony Raines was auctioned off at a Speedway Children's Charity event to benefit the needy children of the Las Vegas area. Raines, along with 15 other drivers, helped raise over $89,000 for this popular charity. Fans bided on the opportunity to meet Raines prior to the start of the Sam's Town 300.

The NASCAR Busch Series Weekly News Release featured Tony Raines and his thoughts about his racing career, future plans, sponsor, team and chances at winning at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This release was sent to all major NASCAR media outlets across the U.S.

Tony Raines was a guest on both the nationally broadcasted Performance Racing Network radio show on Friday night and was also invited to be a guest on New Country 95.5, Las Vegas' only country radio station.

That the Boston Fox affiliate did an insiders look at the sport of NASCAR and used Tony Raines and the Bayer Consumer Care team as the focus of their footage. The reporter joined the team for the day to document the teams' activities on race day and experience first hand what it takes to work in NASCAR. The reporter also interviewed Raines on a number of different occasions about his life as a driver in the sport of NASCAR.