Raines Struggles at California; Finishes 27th

Date:                      Sept. 2, 2007
Event:                     Cal 500 (Round 25 of 36)
Series:                   NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series
Location:               California Speedway in Fontana (2-mile oval)
Start/Finish:        34th / 27th (Running, completed 248 of 250 laps)
Winner:                Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Tony Raines and the DLP HDTV team continued their struggles on 2-mile ovals and finished 27th in the Cal 500 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race at the 2-mile California Speedway in Fontana.

Raines started 34th in the No. 96 DLP HDTV Chevrolet and could never quite find the handle to contend with the front-running cars. Despite a series of chassis and tire-pressure adjustments, Raines and crew chief Brandon Thomas just couldn’t get the car to go to the front.

“We’ve struggled on the 2-mile tracks,” Raines said. “It’s not for a lack of effort. We go to Richmond next week and we ran really well there in the spring. We’ve been a lot better in the COT (Car of Tomorrow) races, so hopefully we’ll have a better week next week.”

The race started with temperatures near the 100 degree mark, as they had been throughout most of the weekend.

“It was definitely hot inside the car,” Raines said. “When you struggle like we did, it just makes for an even longer night.”

Raines’ 27th-place finish did not affect the point standings as the No. 96 car remained 25th in Nextel Cup owner points and Raines remained 31st in driver points.  

Jimmie Johnson won the Cal 500 to score his 28th career Nextel Cup victory, his fifth this season and his second at California.  Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Jeff Burton and Dale Earnhardt Jr., rounded out the top-five.  Martin Truex Jr., Matt Kenseth, Brian Vickers, Kurt Busch and Kasey Kahne comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were 11 caution periods for 43 laps, with seven drivers failing to finish the 250-lap race.

The next event on the Nextel Cup schedule is the Sept. 8 Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway.  The race starts at 7:30 p.m. EDT with live, high-definition coverage provided by ABC beginning with its pre-race show at 7 p.m.