Raines Ruins Blaney’s Bid For Four Straight When Car Overheats At New Hampshire
Tony Raines picked up the 6th last-place finish of his career in Sunday’s Sylvania 300 at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway when his #37 Long John Silver’s Dodge fell out with overheating problems after completing 8 of the race's 300 laps.
Raines qualified 36th with a speed of 129.900 mph, but an engine change forced him to start Sunday’s race in the 43rd and final starting spot. During the opening green-flag run, he remained at the back, then pulled behind the wall on lap 8 with an overheating problem ending his day. 15 laps later, last-place leader Dave Blaney went behind the wall and finished 42nd, ending his streak of three consecutive last-place finishes.
It was the first last-place finish for Tony Raines since June’s Lifelock 400 at Michigan. The #37 team now has three last-place finishes in 2009, but only two of them came with Raines: road racer Tony Ave finished last in this car in last month’s Heluva Good! at the Glen. Raines’ third last-place finish came in owner Barry Haefele’s #73 back at April’s Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix.
The #37 has just one other last-place finish at New Hampshire: John Andretti finished last when he crashed his Michael Kranefuss-owned Kmart / Little Caesar’s Ford in the 1996 Jiffy Lube 300.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #37-Tony Raines / 8 laps / overheating
42) #66-Dave Blaney / 23 laps / electrical
41) #36-Michael McDowell / 36 laps / brakes
40) #87-Joe Nemechek / 41 laps / transmission
39) #64-Mike Wallace / 48 laps / brakes
2009 RANKINGS
1st) Dave Blaney (8)
2nd) Tony Raines (3)
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)
Raines qualified 36th with a speed of 129.900 mph, but an engine change forced him to start Sunday’s race in the 43rd and final starting spot. During the opening green-flag run, he remained at the back, then pulled behind the wall on lap 8 with an overheating problem ending his day. 15 laps later, last-place leader Dave Blaney went behind the wall and finished 42nd, ending his streak of three consecutive last-place finishes.
It was the first last-place finish for Tony Raines since June’s Lifelock 400 at Michigan. The #37 team now has three last-place finishes in 2009, but only two of them came with Raines: road racer Tony Ave finished last in this car in last month’s Heluva Good! at the Glen. Raines’ third last-place finish came in owner Barry Haefele’s #73 back at April’s Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix.
The #37 has just one other last-place finish at New Hampshire: John Andretti finished last when he crashed his Michael Kranefuss-owned Kmart / Little Caesar’s Ford in the 1996 Jiffy Lube 300.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
43) #37-Tony Raines / 8 laps / overheating
42) #66-Dave Blaney / 23 laps / electrical
41) #36-Michael McDowell / 36 laps / brakes
40) #87-Joe Nemechek / 41 laps / transmission
39) #64-Mike Wallace / 48 laps / brakes
2009 RANKINGS
1st) Dave Blaney (8)
2nd) Tony Raines (3)
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)
