Pennzoil Dodge Racing Preview: Raines Heads for Martinsville
23 September 1997
Raines Has Test Session and Benson to Draw from at Martinsville Pennzoil Dodge driver Tony Raines enters this week's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Martinsville with two notable benefits: one, he has tested there, and two, his teammate will be sophomore Winston Cup driver Johnny Benson. As a series rookie, Raines has been forced to get most of his education during race weekend, visiting many tracks for the first time in his career. But a two-day Roehrig Motorsports test earlier this month, coupled with Benson's experience on the challenging half-mile, should provide Raines with valuable information heading into Saturday's 250-lap event. Raines on... ...working with Johnny Benson: "I'm looking forward to it because of Johnny's experience. It will be beneficial for me to double-check everything I see, feel and say. Johnny is going to be giving Kurt (Roehrig) feedback, and he may notice something that I don't, and I'll benefit from that. I want to be able to watch and listen to what he is doing because he has a lot of laps at Martinsville and a lot of laps in a truck. "It will also give me something to shoot at within our own system. If I can have the Pennzoil Dodge running competitively with him, qualify right with him and run lap times the same, that will be a big boost for me. I want to try to use it to my advantage. It will be fun if I can race with him or ultimately out-pace him. I know Johnny, and I know he is going to come in and run as hard as he can, so we'll have a lot of fun with it." ...the importance of testing for a rookie: "Those are invaluable days for us. We're able to take our time, analyze each thing we do and then back it up. They are `no-pressure' laps in the sense that you aren't in a practice window where you have to get it done and get ready to qualify all at the same time. You have time to put 90 laps on a set of tires and then throw a set of stickers on to see what you've learned. It's an expensive venture, but it's definitely worth it." ...his impressions of Martinsville: "There are a lot of things there that can work against you. You're going to have to be able to pace yourself and not burn your brakes off. It's very slow in the middle of the corners, but it also has some seriously long straightaways that you can get hustlin' on. It's a simple-enough track to drive that I think you'll see a really tight field. It's going to be a place where you learn a lot. It'll be tough, no doubt about that." For More Information Contact: Al Larsen Cohn & Wolfe (404) 880-5267 al_larsen@cohnwolfe.com