Raines Rallies From Poor Starting Spot To Finish 24th At Chicagoland

Date:                      July 15, 2007
Event:                     USG Sheetrock 400 (Round 19 of 36)
Series:                   NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series
Location:               Chicagoland Speedway (1.5-mile oval)
Start/Finish:        40th / 24th (Running, completed 265 of 267 laps)
Winner:                Tony Stewart of Joe Gibbs Racing (Chevrolet)

Tony Raines and the DLP HDTV team fought back from the 40th starting spot in the USG Sheetrock 400 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series event to finish a respectable 24th in the 267-lap event at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill.

After starting almost in the back of the field in the No. 96 DLP HDTV Chevrolet, Raines was up to 30th by Lap 46. However, a long green flag run of 57 laps at the beginning of the race didn’t help the DLP HDTV team and they soon went down one lap.

While they never recovered the lost lap and actually lost one more, Raines, crew chief Brandon Thomas and the DLP HDTV team continued to work to make the car better throughout the 400-mile race.

By the end of the event, Raines was running some of his best lap times of the day and he finished as the top car two laps down.

“We got the car pretty good at the end,” Raines said. “Getting down a lap early really hurts you, but Brandon and the DLP guys did a good job of getting the car better throughout the day. The pit crew was really good too. It wasn’t the best finish, but we’ll take it and move on to Indy after the off-week.”

The No. 96 gained one spot to 26th in Nextel Cup owner points with 1,682 points. Raines remains 32nd in driver points with 1,559 points.

Tony Stewart won the USG Sheetrock 400 to score his first victory of the season and 30th of his career. Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick and Casey Mears rounded out the top-five.  Kurt Busch, Jeff Burton, Ryan Newman, Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were seven caution periods for 32 laps, with seven drivers failing to finish the 267-lap race.

The Nextel Cup Series takes a weekend off before heading to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the July 29 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.  The race starts at 2 p.m. EDT with live, high definition coverage provided by ESPN beginning with its pre-race show at 1 p.m.