Top-30 drivers: Tony Raines
By SceneDaily Staff Report
Thursday, December 06, 2007
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Tony Raines has been the face of Hall of Fame Racing since its inception, but the best season of his NASCAR Cup career wasn't enough to keep his ride for 2008.
Raines, who stepped aside for the pair of road-course races as the team opted to put Ron Fellows behind the wheel for those events this season, finished 29th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup driver standings for the year. He will be replaced by J.J. Yeley for next season.
Raines, a 43-year-old native of LaPorte, Ind., has driven for several teams over the course of his Cup career. Prior to joining Hall of Fame, he drove a full season in 2003 for owner Bill Baumgardner and then raced a limited schedule the next two seasons. He joined Hall of Fame for its 2006 debut and finished 35th in the standings that season.
Despite stepping aside for the pair of races this year, Raines earned more than $3.4 million in purses.
During the offseason, SceneDaily is taking a look at the top 30 in 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup driver points, and here's how Raines' season unfolded:
By the numbers: Raines earned one top-10 finish, a ninth-place at Talladega Superspeedway in the fall as driver of the No. 96 Hall of Fame Racing Chevrolet.
Season highlights: In addition to the top-10 finish, Raines posted 11 top-20 performances in the 34 races he entered. He ranked as high as 21st in the driver standings early in the season.
Key setbacks: Raines had three DNFs, two because he was caught up in accidents and one with an engine failure. Michigan International Speedway was tough on Raines as he earned a best finish of 34th in the two races at the track.
Newsworthy moment: Raines and the team handled their split well, with each speaking well of the other even after Yeley had been named as the future driver for the team. Arizona Diamondbacks' executives Jeff Moorad and Tom Garfinkel took over majority ownership of the team late in the season, and then the group waited until late in the year to make the decision to continue an alignment with Joe Gibbs Racing and, therefore, leave manufacturer Chevrolet for Toyota. Raines has not announced his plans for 2008.
In his words: "I'm disappointed, but I understand where they're at," he said after Yeley was hired. "That's just the nature of the business. I didn't expect to be here five years. ... At times, we've been really, really solid. At times, we've just struggled unbelievably bad and don't know why. Someone said it was inconsistent, and I guess I would agree with that. We had a lot more bad luck this year that we didn't have last year."
- Mentioned Drivers:
- J.J. Yeley
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