Mike Skinner
No. 5 Exide Batteries Toyota Tundra
Bristol Motor Speedway – O’Reilly 200
August 18, 2010
Mike Skinner and the No. 5 Exide Batteries team brought their Toyota Tundra home in fourth-place following 206-laps of competition at Bristol Motor Speedway on Wednesday night. The special weeknight edition of NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) competition featured Skinner leading the field for more than 50 laps before having to move back through the after pitting on lap 90. The finish marked Skinner’s second top-five result of the season.
Skinner started the O’Reilly 200 in the eighth position and after a day full of strong practice runs, the Exide Batteries Toyota Tundra team was excited for their chances in the race. Skinner has led more laps around Bristol Motor Speedway than any other driver in the NCWTS, and the team had confidence that he could wheel the No. 5 machine around the 0.533-mile speedway.
Early in the event, Skinner struggled with a truck that was too loose on entry and too tight from the center off, but as the tire pressures started to build Skinner became happier and happier with the handling of the Exide Batteries Toyota Tundra.
By the fourth caution on lap 37, Skinner had raced his way into the third position. While most of the leaders visited pit road, Skinner stayed on track to take over the lead. An excellent set of Goodyear Eagles and a dominate truck allowed Skinner to outrun the competition and maintain the top position for a total of 53 laps.
On lap 90, Skinner came down pit road as the leader of the O’Reilly 200 for four fresh tires, fuel, and a slight air pressure adjustment. During the stop the team failed to get the Exide Batteries Toyota Tundra filled with fuel and Skinner was forced to come back down pit road. Since he made two pit stops under a single yellow flag, the driver of the No. 5 machine had to restart at the rear of the field and fight his way back to the front.
Within 40 laps, Skinner was back inside the top-10 and racing his way through the leaders.
With just two laps remaining, Skinner’s teammate, David Starr, was involved in a serious multi-car accident on the front stretch that brought out the red flag for nine minutes. Skinner sat with the Exide Batteries Toyota Tundra parked near turn four waiting for the NASCAR safety crews to clean up the debris and the race to get back underway. When the race resumed Skinner restarted in the third position and planed on making his move toward the lead in turn one. He battled side by side with fellow NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday and brought the Exide Batteries Tundra home in the fourth spot.
“We had a really great truck tonight,” Skinner said following the O’Reilly 200. “We were competitive all night long and I really appreciate that. My team did a great job building a truck that was capable of dominating this race and I really thought we could have won tonight. I would also like to thank Exide Batteries for their support, International Trucks, Monaco RVs, PC*MILER Navigator, Toyota and everyone else who makes this possible for us. Tonight was a lot of fun.”
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will travel to Chicagoland Speedway on Friday, August 27. The EnjoyIllinois.com 225 will be broadcast on SPEED Channel, Sirius XM Satellite Radio and MRN Radio beginning at 8:30 p.m. EST. Qualifying and practice for the 150-lap event will take place on Friday, but will not be televised. Visit www.twitter.com/rmmracing or www.facebook.com/randymossmotorsports for news and updates throughout the weekend.
