Tony Raines No. 33 RoadLoans.com Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS RoadLoans.com 200 Race Recap

Early Accident Ends Raines’ Day with 35th-Place Finish

Dover, Del. (September 24, 2007) — The NASCAR Busch Series returned to action Saturday at Dover (Del.) International Speedway for the RoadLoans.com 200. Tony Raines was behind the wheel of the Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) No. 33 RoadLoans.com Chevrolet Monte Carlo and poised for a great run at “The Monster Mile.”

During the first practice session on Friday, Raines was eighth quickest with a lap time of 23.754 (151.553 mph). For final practice, Raines improved to seventh quickest with a lap time of 23.882 (150.741 mph). Early Saturday afternoon during qualifying, Raines wheeled the No. 33 RoadLoans.com Chevrolet to the 18th starting position with a lap of 23.824 (151.108 mph).

Starting the race from the 18th position, Raines quickly began moving through the field. On lap five, the first caution flag of the day was waved when several cars wrecked in turn one. Crew Chief Dan Stillman made the call for the team to stay out. While under the caution, Stillman asked Raines about the handling of the car and Raines replied by telling Stillman the car was tight in the center, but good. The No. 33 RoadLoans.com Chevrolet restarted on lap nine in the 17th position.

Several laps later, the caution was out again following another multi-car wreck on the frontstretch. Raines had an up close view of the wreck, but was able to get through the incident with no damage to the car. Raines let Stillman know the car was still good and the tires were not damaged while trying to miss the wreck. Stillman again made the call to stay out. On the lap 15 restart, the No. 33 RoadLoans.com Chevrolet was in the 14th position.

Five laps later the caution flag waved again, marking the third caution of the day. Raines restarted on lap 27 in the 11th position.

The fourth caution of the day came on lap 38 with the No. 33 RoadLoans.com Chevrolet in the 11th position. Stillman made the call for the team to change four tires, add fuel, and make an air pressure adjustment. Following the caution, Raines restarted in the 16th position on lap 42.

With fresh tires, a full tank of fuel and a fast car, Raines set his sights on the front of the pack and quickly began moving forward. His efforts were again slowed on lap 48 when the fifth caution of the day came out when the No. 01 car wrecked in turn four. Sitting in the 13th position, Stillman made the call for Raines to stay out. After a quick caution, Raines restarted in the 13th position.

Unfortunately, on lap 57 while in the 12th position, the No. 33 RaodLoans.com Chevrolet was caught up in a wreck with the No. 27 car of Robby Gordon in turn one. Following the incident, the No. 33 RoadLoans.com Chevrolet suffered too much damage to be repaired and return to the track. The incident ended Raines’ day early with a 35th place finish.

The No. 33 KHI Chevrolet dropped to seventh in NASCAR Busch Series Owner’s Point Standings following the RoadLoans.com 200 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway.

After the race with Raines: “We had a great car today. It was fast and handled good. Dan (Stillman) and the guys worked hard during practice and we had a top-10 car. It’s unfortunate that we were caught up in a wreck that ended our day early. We’ll just take the finish and move on to next week.”

Next up for the No. 33 KHI Chevrolet: Tony Stewart will be behind the wheel of the No. 33 Old Spice Chevrolet for the Yellow Transportation 300 at Kansas Speedway, Saturday, September 29, 2007. Live coverage of the event will begin at 3:00 p.m., ET on ESPN2 and live on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) at 3:00 p.m., ET and on Sirius Satellite Radio at 3:00 p.m., ET.