Mike Skinner
No. 5 International Truck/Monaco RVs Toyota Tundra
Chicagoland Speedway – EnjoyIllinois.com 225
August 27, 2010
Mike Skinner and the No. 5 International Truck/Monaco RVs Toyota Tundra team finished 23rd Friday night at Chicagoland Speedway. The team raced inside the top-10 for the majority of the 150-lap event, but a broken drive shaft with just 23 laps to go ended the team’s chance to contend for the win.
The International Truck/Monaco RVs team worked on the handling of their Toyota Tundra during the two practice sessions at the 1.5-mile speedway and dialed in the truck for Friday night’s event. Skinner was able to hit all of his marks and drive around the track wide-open during his qualifying run. A 31.540-second lap placed Skinner 16th on the speed charts to roll off on Friday night.
During the opening laps of the EnjoyIllinois.com 225 Skinner battled a slightly loose racetruck. An early caution, on lap 30, allowed the International Truck/Monaco RVs team a chance to adjust their Toyota Tundra. The team made an air pressure and track bar adjustment in addition to servicing the car with four fresh Goodyear Eagles and Sunoco racing fuel.
After ten laps the No. 5 Toyota Tundra came to life and Skinner continued to race inside the top-10. His machine was fast through the corners as it navigated each turn perfectly, but Skinner continued to struggle building speed down the straightaways.
The 1995 champion drove the International Truck/Monaco RVs Toyota Tundra down pit road one last time during the lap 126 caution period. The truck was handling great and the team had a fast four-tire stop. As Skinner hit the throttle to pull out his pit stall his Toyota Tundra immediately suffered a mechanical failure.
The International Truck/Monaco RVs team pushed Skinner’s truck into the garage where they diagnosed the problem and installed a new drive shaft all within 15 minutes. Skinner returned to the track and finished out the EnjoyIllinois.com 225 in the 23rd position.
“It was a pretty disheartening night at Chicagoland Speedway,” said Mike Skinner after the race. “We had all of our sponsors here from International Trucks, Monaco RVs and Navistar. Our team did a great job with the truck tonight and I’m so proud of all their hard work. Our Toyota Tundra ran really, really fast through the corners and it looked like we had a top-five truck toward the end of the race. It’s just unfortunate what happened. I’d like to thank all of our sponsors for sticking by us; we’ve made a lot of progress over the last few weeks and we couldn’t have done any of it without their support.”
Next week the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will travel to Kentucky Speedway for another 225-mile event. The race will be broadcast live on SPEED Channel, MRN Radio and SIRIUS XM Radio beginning at 7:30 p.m. EST on Friday, September 3. Practice and qualifying will be held on Thursday and Friday afternoon, but will not be televised. Fans can visit Randy Moss Motorsports on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/randymossmotorsports) and Twitter (@RMMRacing) for updates.
