LOUDON, N.H. (September 19, 2009) – Attempting to win their third race in a row, Mike Skinner and the No. 5 Randy Moss Motorsports team started Saturday off strong, grabbing their second pole position of the season. Skinner led the first 16 laps of the Heluva Good 200 that afternoon before experiencing some handling issues with his Toyota Tundra. The Exide Racing team finished the event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in eighth place.
Skinner was the 15th truck to take to the track for his two-lap qualifying run Saturday morning and he wasted no time showing his competitors the speed they would need to beat to grab the pole. A speed of 127.992 miles per hour on his second lap was quick enough to earn the provisional pole, but several cars that were fast in Friday’s practice sessions still had to make their runs. In the end, no one was able to best Skinner’s speed, and the veteran driver earned his 49thcareer pole position and the second of the season for the No. 5 team.
Skinner took the green flag for the start of the 200-lap event and was able to hold on to the lead for the first 16 laps before the handling of the Exide truck became tight in the center of the corners. A pit stop on lap 40 enabled crew chief Eric Phillips the opportunity to make a track bar adjustment to the truck. Skinner returned to the track for the lap 43 restart in the third position.
Skinner continued to fight a tight handling truck and remained in the top five through the first half of the race before falling to sixth, the position he held for much of the second half of the event. With 25 laps left in the Heluva Good 200, Phillips called his driver to pit road for a splash of fuel. When a caution flag flew with 10 laps to go, Phillips made the decision to bring the truck back into the pits for four fresh tires. Skinner was the only driver to have taken on four fresh tires when he returned to the track with six laps left in the event.
Skinner made the most of his fresh tires, but still wrestled with a tight handling truck in the closing laps. Skinner drove the Exide entry up to eighth position before the checkered flag flew.
Earning his 13th top-10 finish of the year, Skinner was able to maintain third place in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver point standings. He now stands 246 points behind series leader Ron Hornaday and only 29 markers out of second.
Mike Skinner and the No. 5 Randy Moss Motorsports team will return to action next weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The Las Vegas 350 will be broadcast live at 9 p.m. (ET) on SPEED TV and on select affiliates of MRN Radio and Sirius-XM NASCAR Radio on Saturday, September 26.
ABOUT EXIDE TECHNOLOGIES: Exide Technologies, with operations in more than 80 countries, is one of the world's largest producers and recyclers of lead-acid batteries. The Company's four global business groups – Transportation Americas, Transportation Europe and Rest of World, Industrial Energy Americas and Industrial Energy Europe and Rest of World – provide a comprehensive range of stored electrical energy products and services for industrial and transportation applications.
Transportation markets include original-equipment and aftermarket automotive, heavy-duty truck, agricultural and marine applications, and new technologies for hybrid vehicles and automotive applications. Industrial markets include network power applications such as telecommunications systems, electric utilities, railroads, photovoltaic (solar-power related) and uninterruptible power supply (UPS), and motive-power applications including lift trucks, mining and other commercial vehicles.
Further information about Exide, including its financial results, are available at www.exide.com.
ABOUT RANDY MOSS MOTORSPORTS: Randy Moss Motorsports ownership consists of Randy Moss, New England Patriots All-Pro Wide Receiver; and David Dollar, a long-time participant in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The team fields the No. 81 Toyota Tundra and the No. 5 Toyota Tundra full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. For more information about Randy Moss Motorsports, please visit www.randymossmotorsports.com.
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