AVONDALE, Ariz. (November 13, 2009) – Battling back from starting at the back of the pack, Mike Skinner drove the No. 5 Exide Batteries Toyota Tundra to a sixth-place finish in Friday’s running of the Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix International Raceway. The effort marked the team’s 16th top-10 finish of the season.
Skinner posted top-10 speeds in both of the practice sessions Thursday evening. The No. 5 Exide Toyota Tundra was the 24th of 36 trucks to take to the track for his two-lap qualifying run early Friday afternoon. Skinner’s speed of 128.986 miles per hour around the one-mile oval earned him the 12th spot on the starting grid for Friday evening’s event. Unfortunately, the veteran driver was late to arrive to the drivers meeting earlier that day and the No. 5 Toyota was forced to the back of the field for the start of the event.
Skinner took the green flag for the start of the Lucas Oil 150 and immediately began his ascent to the front. By lap five of the 150-lap event, the No. 5 Exide Toyota Tundra held down 24th position, and when the first caution flag of the day flew on lap eight, Skinner had already driven into 21st place.
The second yellow flag of the evening waved on lap 35 and crew chief Eric Phillips called his driver into the pits for the first scheduled pit stop of night. Because Skinner had communicated to his crew that the Randy Moss Motorsports truck was loose in the gas, Phillips made air pressure adjustments to both rear tires in an effort to tighten up the handling of the machine. After filling the tank with fuel and making a four-tire pit stop, the team sent Skinner back out on the track for the lap 39 restart in the seventh spot.
Skinner continued to experience a loose handling condition, but remained in the top 10. A lap 92 caution enabled Phillips to make chassis adjustments to the truck, which had gone from loose to tight in the closing laps of the run.
Skinner was running in the seventh position with 50 laps remaining in the event and was able to muscle his way into sixth place by the time the checkered flag flew. The 1995 series champion remains in third place in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver point standings.
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will make its final stop on the 2009 schedule next week at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The Ford 200 will be broadcast live at 8 p.m. (ET) on SPEED TV and on select affiliates of MRN Radio and Sirius-XM NASCAR Radio on Friday, November 20.
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.