K&N Series - Raudman Solid All Day Until Late Wreck Derails Top Ten

Redding, June 29, 2011: Craig Raudman of Redding, CA was excited to return to the NASCAR K&N Pro Series this past weekend at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA. That excitement propelled the Heritage Motor Sports team all weekend but they left with bittersweet disappointment after Raudman was involved in a last lap crash that dropped him from a sure top ten finish to a 16th place result after it was all said and done.

Raudman drove the #22 Approved Memory/Davidson Equipment Sales/Heritage Cattle Co. Chevrolet in the Thunder Valley Casino Resort sponsored event at the 1.99-mile road course for his first race back in the series as a driver in more than a decade. The plan was simple. Race the track and not worry about anybody else.

For most of the race that plan played out to perfection as the former NASCAR Southwest Tour champion let faster cars go when needed and did not fight for positions early, instead, focused on track position for late in the race. With less than five laps to go he was running seventh and just looking to bring the car home in one piece.

That all changed on the last lap when another competitor rooted his way by and sent a couple of cars spinning kicking up a dust storm that would make West Texas proud. The unfortunate thing for Raudman is that it left a wounded car directly in front of him but not visible through the dust. Race over.

"I thought we had played the strategy pretty well," Raudman said. "For not being in a K&N Series car for a long time, I felt really good; I could have gone fifty more laps. The crew was awesome and we just stayed out of trouble and took what the track gave us. We were in perfect position going up the hill on the last lap but it all went wrong in turn three. It happens and now we have a busted up race car that needs some work."

While the finish was not an indication of how well they actually ran, Raudman left Infineon on a high. "It is just awesome to drive race cars and I had a blast racing at Infineon," Raudman offered. "I am so thankful to Dave Reed and Ted Davidson for their support and to John Gomez for making this opportunity a reality. Blaine (Bergen, car chief) and I have a lot of work to do get this car back in shape but we will get it done."