Mike Skinner
No. 5 Exide Toyota Tundra
Gateway International Raceway – CampingWorld.com 200
July 17, 2010
Mike Skinner and the No. 5 Toyota Tundra team welcomed Exide Batteries back to the hood of their truck for the action at Gateway International Raceway this weekend. Skinner was the defending winner at the 1.25-mile track located outside St. Louis, MO, and showed throughout the day with his No. 5 machine.
The race was originally scheduled to take place on Friday night with the temperatures in the 80s, but after a scorching day at Gateway International Raceway a nearby transformer caught on fire and left competitors and fans in the dark for more than two hours. After hours of waiting to restore power including the lights which illuminate the speedway, NASCAR made the decision to postpone the race until Saturday afternoon.
Skinner started the 160-lap event from the 13th position and attempted to race his way through the field during the heat of the afternoon. He called into the Exide Batteries crew early in the event to tell them the balance of his Toyota Tundra was perfect, but he was still struggling to find grip because of the extreme heat.
Skinner kept the Exide Batteries Toyota Tundra on the track until the lap 59 caution period when he came down pit road taking on four fresh tires, fuel, and an air pressure adjustment. During the stop, a lug nut wedged itself between the right front wheel and brake rotor and tore a section of the brake rotor off. The damage resulted in brake trouble for Skinner throughout the remaining laps, but luckily the driver of the No. 5 Exide Toyota Tundra was able to hang on.
Despite having braking issues throughout the remaining laps, Skinner was able to race his way to a 10th-place finish in the 200-mile event. The finish allowed Skinner to move up one position in the driver championship points to fifth, and he sits just 63 points out of third.
“Our Exide Toyota Tundra team worked really hard today,” said Mike Skinner following the action at Gateway International Raceway. “We had a lug nut get stuck between the wheel and the brake rotor and it actually broke the brake rotor. We’re lucky that we didn’t wreck. For damage that severe I probably should have parked it, but we kept fighting. We got really, really lucky and the Exide Tundra got a top-10 finish today with the brakes really messed up. I can’t complain about it. Under the circumstances, it was a good day.”
The next stop on the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule is O’Reilly Raceway Park on Friday, July 23rd. The AAA Insurance 200 will be broadcast on SPEED Channel, SIRIUS NASCAR Radio and MRN Radio beginning at 7:30 p.m. EST. Qualifying for the race will be televised on SPEED Channel Friday evening at 5:00 p.m. EST. Visit www.twitter.com/rmmracing or www.facebook.com/randymossmotorsports for news and updates throughout race weekends.