Early Incident Ends a Good Run for Raines 

Tony Raines returned behind the wheel of the No. 33 Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) Chevrolet for the first time since 2005. He looked to have one of the fastest cars at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway.  Raines, who started 36th, drove the No. 33 RoadLoans.com Chevrolet into the top 15 by lap 40. Raines was warming up his tires during a caution on lap 81, when he was hit from behind by rookie driver Kyle Krisiloff. With major damage to the rear of the car, Raines had to make several unscheduled pit stops so the crew could make repairs. Despite his attempts to drive his battered machine to the finish, the damage proved to be too extensive and Raines took the No. 33 RoadLoans.com Chevrolet to the garage on lap 152. He finished 34th, 43 laps down to race winner Jeff Burton. 

The Atlanta race weekend started out on Friday afternoon with one remaining practice session due to early morning rain. With the fourth driver in the No. 33 in as many weeks, crew chief Dan Stillman had to work hard to figure out how Raines, a NEXTEL Cup regular, preferred the car. During the afternoon practice session, Raines found himself running in the 28th position. He was happy with the changes that were made for qualifying, and the team was optimistic about its chances for Saturday’s race. 

Raines qualified the Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS in the 36th position on the 1.54-mile quad-oval with a speed of 183.747. Raines expressed that the car was “loose” in qualifying and adjustments would need to be made during the race.  However, since this was an impound race, the cars didn’t have an opportunity to practice after their qualifying run and the crew was confident the car’s setup would be more suited for the race.

When the green flag dropped over the 43-car field, Raines wasted little time moving towards the front.  In just 20 laps he had picked up 10 positions. When the second caution flag waved for a competition yellow on lap 35, Raines was sitting comfortably in the 16th spot. Raines would come down pit road for the first of five trips that day. With four fresh tires and a full tank of gas, Raines restarted in the 17th position, but quickly worked his way inside the top-15 by lap 43. A caution flag on lap 64 returned Raines to pit road. With an outstanding pit stop of four tires and fuel, Raines was able to restart the RoadLoans.com Chevrolet in the 15th position.  Over the next few laps Raines was battling lapped traffic when Jason Leffler crashed coming out of turn four bringing out another caution flag. “We are going to stay out since we just pitted,” said crew chief, Dan Stillman, from atop the RoadLoads.com pit box.  While under caution on lap 81, Raines was warming up his tires when Krisiloff, who was the lucky dog, drove right into the back of the RoadLoans.com Chevrolet. “You are not going to believe this,” radioed Raines. “The No. 14 just ran right into the back of us.”  The damage to the No. 33 Chevy was so severe that Stillman brought the car down pit road two straight times to make repairs, along with taking four tires and fuel.  The RoadLoans.com pit crew worked vigorously to fix the rear bumper and corner panel, all while keeping the car on the lead lap.

During the contact from Krisiloff, NASCAR’s scoring transmitter fell off the car, which showed Raines one lap down to leader Kyle Busch.  Stillman circled around the NASCAR Officials pleading his case that the car never went a lap down.  

Raines patiently restarted in the 35th position when the green flag dropped.  The LePorte, Indiana, native cruised around the track trying to find a way to bring the heavily damaged Chevrolet back into contention.  “Keep digging, we are looking for a caution so we can bring you in and make the car better,” radioed Stillman.

Sitting in the 36th position on lap 140, the caution flag waved, allowing the RoadLoans.com team the opportunity to work on the car. Major changes were needed to try and free the car up. “We are going to go 10 rounds up on the trackbar and take four tires and fuel,” ordered Stillman. With the necessary changes made on pit road, Raines was able to gain two positions once the green flag waved.

On lap 158, Stillman summoned Raines to bring the RoadLoans.com Chevrolet into the garage. “We are below NASCAR’s minimum speed and we can’t loose anymore positions, so bring her on back to the garage.” 

“I was just minding my own business under the caution. I was right behind the No. 23 when Krisiloff just rammed into the back of me,” said Raines after the race.  “Dan and the boys put a great car underneath me and it is unfortunate that it had to end like this.”

Despite the misfortune the No. 33 KHI Chevrolet sits in seventh position in the NASCAR Busch Series Owner Point standings.

Next up for the No. 33 KHI Chevrolet: Kevin Harvick will drive the No. 33 Bounty Super Duty Shop Towels Chevrolet in the Sharpie Mini 300 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.  Live coverage of the event begins Saturday, March 17 at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on ABC. The race will also be covered live on the Performance Racing Network (PRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio.

STATS RECAP

Date: March 17, 2007

Track: Atlanta Motor Speedway

Event Name: Nicorette 300

Race: 5 of 35

Driver: Tony Raines

Started: 36th

Finished: 34th

Owner Point Standings: 7th

Next on Schedule:

Date: March 24, 2007

Track: Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway

Event Name: Nicorette 300

Driver: Kevin Harvick

Broadcast Time:

TV: NASCAR Countdown pre-race coverage can be seen live on ABC at 2:30 p.m. ET. Followed by the Sharpie Mini 300 on ABC at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Radio: The Performance Racing Network (PRN) will broadcast pre-race coverage at 2:30 p.m. ET