The No. 5 International Truck/Monaco RV team built a brand new Toyota Tundra for Skinner to race at Kansas Speedway. Skinner entered the weekend with the pressure of being the defending race winner, and a chance at becoming the first driver to have multiple wins at the Midwest intermediate track.
Chassis RMM-108 turned its very first lap around a racetrack during the first practice session. The team had visited the shakedown rig and wind tunnel with the truck before, but it had never actually touched the surface of a racetrack. During Saturday’s practice sessions, Skinner recorded a best lap of 32.312 seconds with a top average speed of 167.121 miles per hour. A few hours later, Skinner went on track to make his qualifying run, which placed him eighth on the leaderboard to start the race on Sunday afternoon.
Shortly after the green flag, the caution came out on lap 9 giving the teams a chance to adjust their trucks. Skinner reported to the International Truck/Monaco RV team that his Toyota Tundra was a little tight from the center off, but overall not too bad. During the caution, he brought the No. 5 International Trucks/Monaco RV Tundra down pit road for fuel, a track bar adjustment and a wedge adjustment. The early stop left Skinner in the 25th position to restart the race.
Skinner struggled with the behavior of his Tundra as he moved steadily through the field passing between dirty air and clean air, which made it difficult to adjust the handling. The team spent two subsequent pit stops working on adjusting their Toyota Tundra to Skinner’s preferences before the caution came out on lap 115 for rain around the 1.5-mile Midwest track.
Heavy rain quickly turned to hail and the red flag was displayed at Kansas Speedway. During the red flag period Skinner got together with crew chief Gene Nead to discuss the behavior of the No. 5 International Truck/Monaco RV Toyota Tundra. While Skinner was pleased with the new truck that the Randy Moss Motorsports team had built, he concluded that the truck just wasn’t adjustable enough.
Going into the red flag, Skinner stated that his Tundra was loose through the center of the corner and on exit. The team decided to make a wedge adjustment to the truck when the field returned to caution and sent the No. 5 International Truck/Monaco RV Tundra back to the track for the conclusion of the race. The final adjustments finally left Skinner’s truck adjustable and able to race around the 1.5-mile track.
By the time the caution flag fell after 167 laps at Kansas Speedway, Skinner was scored in the 8th position. The finish was strong enough to move Skinner into the 13th position in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series owners’ points.
