Mike Skinner
No. 5 International Truck/Monaco RV Toyota Tundra
Michigan International Speedway – VFW 200
June 12, 2010
Mike Skinner and the No. 5 International Truck/Monaco RV Toyota Tundra team brought home a 12th place finish at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday afternoon. The team qualified in the 19th position, but began their charge to the front immediately after the green flag dropped.
As a result of final practice being rained out, Skinner had just 50 minutes to work with crew chief Stacy Johnson to adjust the truck on Friday afternoon. The team tried a series of adjustments and found a package that they thought they could adjust on throughout the 200-mile race.
The International Truck/Monaco RVs Toyota team struggled with a loose Tundra throughout most of the opening laps, but continued to adjust the truck and improve the handling. By the time the caution came out for rain on lap 32, Skinner stopped for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment and left pit road in eighth place.
The rain picked up around Michigan International Speedway and forced the red flag to be displayed for about 30 minutes. The team restarted the race in the fifth position, but the rain changed track conditions and left Skinner too tight going into the second half of the 100-lap event.
Skinner’s team continued to work on the handling of the International Truck/Monaco RVs Toyota Tundra during the closing laps as Skinner raced around the tenth-position. After 200 grueling miles, Skinner crossed the finish line in the 12th position. He remains sixth in the NCWTS driver championship standings and is just eight points out of fifth-place.
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will make its next pit stop at Iowa Speedway on Sunday, July 11th. SPEED, MRN, and Sirius Satellite Radio will all carry a broadcast of the event beginning at 1:30 p.m. EST.
