Raines Overheats For Second Straight Week, Finishes Last at Dover
Tony Raines picked up the 7th last-place finish of his career in Sunday’s AAA 400 at the Dover International Speedway when his #37 Long John Silver’s Dodge fell out with overheating problems after completing 13 of the race’s 400 laps.
On Friday, Raines qualified 42nd at a speed of 151.547 mph, but was again forced to change engines and start 43rd as a result. During the opening green-flag laps, Raines pulled behind the wall on lap 13, 12 laps before NASCAR threw a competition caution on lap 25. Joey Logano, the Daytona 500 last-place finisher, was then involved in a vicious wreck on the lap 31 restart and finished 42nd. Last-place leader Dave Blaney failed to crack the bottom five; his transmission problem did not take him out of the race until he completed 74 laps, and he finished 37th.
The race marked the first time Tony Raines has ever finished last in consecutive races. It is also the first time a car #37 has ever finished last in a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Dover. With eight races remaining, Raines still needs to finish last in at least five of them to score the most in 2009.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #37-Tony Raines / 13 laps / overheating
42) #20-Joey Logano / 30 laps / crash
41) #87-Joe Nemechek / 51 laps / overheating
40) #09-Mike Bliss / 54 laps / vibration
39) #71-David Gilliland / 60 laps / electrical
2009 RANKINGS
1st) Dave Blaney (8)
2nd) Tony Raines (4)
3rd) Mike Bliss, Patrick Carpentier, David Gilliland, Joe Nemechek (2)
4th) Tony Ave, Todd Bodine, P.J. Jones, Matt Kenseth, Bobby Labonte, Joey Logano, Mark Martin, Mike Wallace (1)
On Friday, Raines qualified 42nd at a speed of 151.547 mph, but was again forced to change engines and start 43rd as a result. During the opening green-flag laps, Raines pulled behind the wall on lap 13, 12 laps before NASCAR threw a competition caution on lap 25. Joey Logano, the Daytona 500 last-place finisher, was then involved in a vicious wreck on the lap 31 restart and finished 42nd. Last-place leader Dave Blaney failed to crack the bottom five; his transmission problem did not take him out of the race until he completed 74 laps, and he finished 37th.
The race marked the first time Tony Raines has ever finished last in consecutive races. It is also the first time a car #37 has ever finished last in a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Dover. With eight races remaining, Raines still needs to finish last in at least five of them to score the most in 2009.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #37-Tony Raines / 13 laps / overheating
42) #20-Joey Logano / 30 laps / crash
41) #87-Joe Nemechek / 51 laps / overheating
40) #09-Mike Bliss / 54 laps / vibration
39) #71-David Gilliland / 60 laps / electrical
2009 RANKINGS
1st) Dave Blaney (8)
2nd) Tony Raines (4)
3rd) Mike Bliss, Patrick Carpentier, David Gilliland, Joe Nemechek (2)
4th) Tony Ave, Todd Bodine, P.J. Jones, Matt Kenseth, Bobby Labonte, Joey Logano, Mark Martin, Mike Wallace (1)
