- Tony Raines
Infobox NASCAR driver
Name = Floyd Anthony Raines
Birthdate = birth date and age|1964|4|14 | Birthplace =LaPorte, Indiana
Awards =1990 NASCAR All Pro Series Rookie of the Year1996 American Speed Association (ASA) Champion
1999 Rookie of the Year
Previous_Year = 2007
Prev_Cup_Pos = 29th (Sat out 2 roadcourse events, 25th in owners points) | Best_Cup_Pos = 29th - 2007
Cup_Top_Tens = 3
First_Cup_Race = 2002MBNA Platinum 400 (Dover)
Prev_Busch_Year = 2007
Prev_Busch_Pos = 49th
Best_Busch_Pos = 6th - 2001
First_Busch_Race = 1999NAPA Auto Parts 300 (Daytona)
Busch_Top_Tens = 47
Busch_Poles = 1
Prev_Truck_Year = 2004
Prev_Truck_Pos = 86th
Best_Truck_Pos = 5th - 2001
First_Truck_Race = 1997NAPA 200 (Tucson)
First_Truck_Win = 1997 Western Auto/Parts America 200 (I-70)
Last_Truck_Win = 1998 Kroger 225 (Louisville)
Truck_Wins = 4| Truck_Top_Tens = 22
Truck_Poles = 1
Updated_On =February 10 ,2008 Floyd Anthony Raines (born
April 14 ,1964 inLaPorte, Indiana ) is an American race car driver, previously driving in the2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series forHall of Fame Racing in the the #96Texas Instruments Chevrolet Monte Carlo. He also formerly raced for Kevin Harvick withTony Stewart .He is a former National Touring Series champion in the now defunctAmerican Speed Association and 1999 Rookie of the Year in theNASCAR Nationwide Series . Tony has been driving for various struggling teams this season, attempting to help them become more competitive. Most recently he has driven for Haas CNC Racing in the #70 car.Before NASCAR
In 1988, Raines competed in five ASA races, and then returned for his rookie year in 1989. In 1990, Raines moved to NASCAR's All Pro Series, where he won Rookie of the Year and finished fourth in the final standings.
He returned to ASA in 1991 for a four-year stint as driver of a new team formed by Ernie Roselli. In 1995, he had moved to join crew chief Howie Lettow and Baker Motorsports. That in turn led to the 1996 championship and Raines' first major NASCAR ride.
Craftsman Series
Raines entered the 1997 season with a full-time ride, running for Rookie of the Year honors in the #19
Pennzoil Ford F-150 for Kurt Roehrig. After failing to qualify for the first race of the season, Raines came back to win the seventh race of the season atI-70 Speedway . He finished 15th in points and ended the season with two top-5 and seven top-10 finishes, as well as two outside-pole positions.In 1998, he won three races (I-70, Louisville and Texas) and earned 6 additional top-5 with fifteen top-tens, ending the season fifth in the standings.
After moving to the Busch and Winston/Nextel Cup series, he has made a total of two starts in the Craftsman Truck Series. In 1999, he made one start in the Truck Series at
The Milwaukee Mile for Gerry Gunderman in the #68 truck in 1999 when Raines started 22nd and finished 19th. In 2004, he returned to the series for one race at Atlanta, finishing seventeenth in the #08 1-800-4-A-PhoneChevrolet Silverado forGreen Light Racing .Busch Series
In 1999, Roehrig lost the Pennzoil sponsorship, causing Raines to move up to the Busch Series, signing with the #74
BACE Motorsports team. Raines raced 31 times during the season, with the exception of theCoca-Cola 300 , in whichSteve Grissom drove. Despite not having major sponsorship, Raines had a best finish of fourth and finished 12th in points, capturing the Rookie of the Year honors.In 2000, Raines moved to BACE's #33
Bayer Chevrolet Monte Carlo full-time. He had a career-best second-place finish atSouth Boston Speedway , but with no other top-tens, he fell to fifteenth in the final standings.He would return in 2001 with
Alka-Seltzer sharing sponsorship duties, winning his first career pole atNazareth Speedway and had a career-high thirteen top-ten finishes, finishing sixth in points. He followed that up with five top-fives in 2002, but fell six spots in points. In 2003, Raines continued to drive the #33Outdoor Channel Chevrolet Monte Carlo part-time for BACE while driving full-time in the Cup Series. He had a total of five top-10s in 2003 and finished 39th in the points.Due to a lack of sponsorship in 2004, BACE closed its Cup team and focused back on the Busch Series. BACE hired
Damon Lusk to drive its #74 Outdoor Channel Chevrolet Monte Carlo; but after four races, Raines returned to the team in favor of Lusk, and finished sixth in his first race at Bristol. He ran fifteen races for BACE that season, and drove additional races forPhoenix Racing ,Haas CNC Racing , andKevin Harvick Incorporated .In addition to his Cup ride in 2005 and 2007, Raines drove part-time for Kevin Harvick Incorporated in the #33
Camping World /Roadloans.com Chevrolet Monte Carlo.Cup Series
BACE Motorsports
Raines made his Nextel Cup debut with BACE Motorspots at Dover in the
2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series , raising some eyebrows qualifying 17th, and finishing 31st in the #73 car. He ran six more races that season in the Winston Cup, driving the #74 Staff America Chevrolet Monte Carlo and his best finish was 29th at Atlanta.BACE and Raines moved to the Winston Cup full-time in 2003, completing the whole season for
NASCAR Rookie of the Year honors. Despite running without major sponsorship, Raines had a sixth-place finish atNorth Carolina Speedway and finished 33rd in the championship standings, and third in the Rookie of the Year race. During the last six races of the season, Raines was in the top 20 in points gained for those six races. In the Busch series, Raines had another second-place finish and three consecutive eighth-place runs, allowing him to finish 39th in points despite an abbreviated schedule.Post BACE Motorsports/Pre HOF Racing
After BACE closed its Cup team, Raines ran one-race deals for Phoenix Racing and
Bill Davis Racing in 2004, before running four races forCompetitive Edge Motorsports . His best finish in 2004 was 28th.He made a total of six Nextel Cup races in 2005, his first being a 35th-place finish for
Front Row Motorsports at Richmond. Late in the season, he drove the #37Dodge Charger forR&J Racing for six races. At Michigan, Tony inherited the lead late in the race, however with a handful of laps left ran out of fuel. The best finish for the pairing was a 22nd place finish atTalladega Speedway Hall of Fame Racing
Towards the end of the 2005 Nextel Cup Series, he was announced as co-driver of the #96
Texas Instruments /DLP forHall of Fame Racing , sharing the ride in 2006 withTerry Labonte . In the 29 races he drove, Raines had a seventh-place finish atLowe's Motor Speedway and finished 35th in points.He was expected to complete the full 2007 schedule with Hall of Fame Racing, but was replaced on road course events by
Ron Fellows . His best finish in 2007 was ninth at Talladega and finished in the Top 25 in Owners Points. At the end of the 2007 season, Tony Raines was replaced byJ. J. Yeley in the #96 car for the2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series who have since then fallen outside the Top-35 in points and have missed several races based on lack of speed.Post HOF Racing
Tony Sat out the first 5 races of the 2008 season. It was said that he had been offered Nationwide and Truck rides but was waiting out for a Sprint Cup ride. Tony attempted his first race of the season for
E&M Motorsports driving the #08 Dodge sponsored by Rhino Energy Drink. Unfortunately, the team was unable to qualify for any races together. He successfully qualified for his first Cup race of the season at Dover in theFront Row Motorsports #34 car, however had failed to make any other races for the team up to that point, partly because of a high number of qualifying rainouts. Tony began driving the #70Haas CNC Racing Chevrolet at Pocono, resulting in an 18th place finish, that team's second best finish of the season up to that point, and he bested that finish two races later with a 17th place finish at Bristol. Tony returned toFront Row Motorsports at Richmond and New Hampshire, only for qualifying to be canceled due to rain at both races, resulting in DNQ's for the team (this has been a major problem for this team as this season has produced a record amount of qualifying rain outs). He got back behind the wheel of the #70Haas CNC Racing Chevrolet at the Camping World 400 at Dover International Speedway, qualifying an impressive 13th for the race, the best of any team outside the top-35 in points, and finished 28th.External links
* [http://www.tonyraines.com Tony Raines' Official Site]
* [http://www.racing-reference.info/driver?id=raineto01 Raines' Stats]
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