Early Accident Causes Long Night for Raines at Charlotte

Date:                      Oct. 13, 2007
Event:                     Bank of America 500 (Round 31 of 36)
Series:                   NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series
Location:               Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. (1.5-mile oval)
Start/Finish:        41st/ 31st (Running, completed 331 of 337 laps in a green/white/checkered finish)
Winner:                Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Tony Raines was involved in an early accident in Saturday night’s Bank of America 500 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway and finished 31st.

Raines, driver of the No. 96 DLP HDTV Chevrolet for Hall of Fame Racing, started 41st but managed to move up to 23rd by lap 75.  Some nifty driving, coupled with crafty pit strategy and chassis adjustments directed by crew chief Brandon Thomas, allowed Raines to pick up 18 positions.

After battling a loose race car for the first 21 laps, Raines, who was in 38th-place, pitted for the first time on lap 22 after a caution came out due to an accident involving David Ragan and Reed Sorenson. Thomas called for a wedge adjustment and for only two tires to be changed on the car, and Raines, thanks to quick work by the DLP crew, restarted the race in 30th.  

The adjustments worked and by lap 75, Raines had a car that was handling well and was in 23rd position.

Unfortunately on lap 76, Raines spun in turn four and made slight contact with the SAFER Barrier on the outside retaining wall. The DLP Chevrolet suffered moderate damage to its left-rear corner and Raines had to pit twice for repairs before restarting in 29th.

Raines was never able to crack the top-25 again and also had to deal with an overheating engine on lap 260, thanks to a piece of paper that was covering part of the grill openings designed to bring air into the engine and keep it cool

With steam shooting out of the engine, the DLP crew came to the rescue by pumping cold water through the radiator during a pit stop that got the temperature back to normal.

From there, Raines fell six laps down and finished a disappointing 31st.

“It was a tough night for the DLP guys,” Raines said. “I’m not sure what happened in turn four. It just spun around. It’s disappointing because the car was getting better with each run.”

Raines’ 31st-place finish caused the No. 96 car to fall one spot to 26th in Nextel Cup owner points. Raines also fell one spot to 31st in driver points. 

Jeff Gordon won the Bank of America 500 to score his 81st career Nextel Cup victory, his sixth this season and his fifth at Charlotte. Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch, Jeff Burton and Carl Edwards rounded out the top-five. Dave Blaney, Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne, David Stremme and Michael Waltrip comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were 15 caution periods for 62 laps, with seven drivers failing to finish the 337-lap race, which was extended three laps past its scheduled 334-lap distance due to a green/white/checkered finish.

The next event on the Nextel Cup schedule – the sixth race of the 10-race Chase for the Nextel Cup – is the Oct. 21 Subway 500 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.  The race begins at 1:30 p.m. EDT with live, high-definition coverage provided by ABC beginning with its pre-race show at 1 p.m.