The 1995 Truck Series Champion Records Sixth Top-10 Finish of 2009 Season
FORT WORTH, Texas (June 8, 2009) – Mike Skinner has an impressive resume at Texas Motor Speedway and it is only missing one thing: a win. The 1995 Truck Series Champion and his No. 5 Randy Moss Motorsports team had high hopes entering the WinStar World Casino 400, the eighth stop of the 2009 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season. Battling a tight condition in the beginning stages of the 167-lap race, Skinner took care of his tires and Exide Batteries Tundra until an unusual green-flag run caused crew chief Eric Phillips to bring Skinner to pit road twice, losing a lap when the field cycled around. The Daytona Beach, Florida resident was forced to sit back and ride as the final 40 laps were run under green-flag conditions, leaving Skinner with a 10th-place finish at the 1.5-mile oval.
Starting from the 11th position, Skinner quickly fought a tight condition and fell back a couple of spots to 13th-place when the first caution of the night flew on lap 42. Phillips called Skinner to pit road for four fresh tires and an air pressure adjustment, followed by a fuel stop the next lap. A spectacular pit stop by the Exide Batteries team allowed Skinner to restart on lap 47 from the fourth position. During this green-flag run, the veteran felt his right front tire giving out, which forced the No. 5 Tundra to slow down and drive a smooth line around the Fort Worth track.
Phillips radioed to Skinner on lap 99 to come to pit road under green for four fresh tires and then to return the following lap for fuel. Different pit strategies among fellow competitors left Skinner a lap down and battling for the free pass award in the 10th position. The second and final caution came out on lap 123, as Phillips brought Skinner back to pit road for another stop and adjustments. As the field restarted on lap 128, the Exide Batteries Toyota was running in the 11th position, where Skinner was forced to run as fast as possible while being caught a lap down. As the checkered flag flew at The Great American Speedway, Skinner recorded a 10th-place finish, which was his sixth top-10 finish of the 2009 NCWTS season.
“All of my guys on this Randy Moss Motorsports team worked really hard this weekend to get this Exide Batteries Toyota Tundra to run strong and consistently fast,” said Skinner. “It wasn’t quite the race that we were hoping for, but to come out of Texas with another top-10 finish in the Truck Series is an accomplishment. Eric (Phillips) made the call that we had to make, coming in twice under green for tires and fuel, since I could feel my right front giving up earlier in that run. Overall, it was a decent weekend and we will head to Michigan and see if we can’t get back to Victory Lane.”
Recording his ninth top-10 finish at Texas Motor Speedway, Skinner dropped one position to third-place in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship point standings. He currently sits 39 points behind leader Matt Crafton and only nine points behind second-place Ron Hornaday Jr
Mike Skinner and his No. 5 Randy Moss Motorsports team will take on Michigan International Speedway on Saturday, June 13 for the running of the Michigan 200. The green flag will drop in the Irish Hills of Michigan shortly after 2 P.M. Eastern and be televised live on SPEED. The 100-lap event around the 2-mile D-shaped oval can also be heard live on select affiliates of MRN Radio and Sirius-XM NASCAR Radio Channel 128.
-RMM-