Mike Skinner
No. 5 International Truck/Monaco RVs Toyota Tundra
Phoenix International Raceway – Lucas Oil 150
November 12, 2010
Mike Skinner and the International Truck/Monaco RVs team brought home their 12th top-10 finish of the 2010 season at Phoenix International Raceway on Friday night. The 1995 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion has two wins at the short track and was looking for another strong run in Friday night’s event. On their final stop of the night, the International Truck/Monaco RVs Toyota Tundra team took a big swing at their truck to regain Skinner’s foothold within the top-10 and ultimately brought home a sixth-place finish.
After getting continually quicker throughout the practice sessions at Phoenix International Raceway, Skinner recorded a 27.397-second qualifying lap to roll off the grid in the eighth position for 150 miles of racing action in the Arizona desert.
Early in the event, the driver of the No. 5 called into his crew to update them on the handling of their truck. The veteran described a loose race truck that was getting worse as the tires built up to their desired pressures. As the event progressed, the driver struggled with a lack of front and rear grip as the truck bounced around the surface of the one-mile oval.
By the fourth caution period on lap 90, Skinner had made it past the halfway point in the International Truck/Monaco RVs Toyota Tundra. The driver of the No. 5 machine maintained his 10th-place position in the running order despite continuing to struggle with the handling of his truck. As a result, the Randy Moss Motorsports crew took a big swing at their Toyota Tundra with a major trackbar adjustment on their final stop of the 150-mile race in Phoenix, Ariz.
The adjustments moved Skinner’s Toyota Tundra in the right direction allowing him to speed up his lap times and pick up positions around the fast short track throughout the closing laps. After 150 miles at Phoenix International Raceway, the No. 5 International Truck/Monaco RVs Toyota Tundra crossed the finish line in the sixth position.
“We got out of here with another top-10 finish in Phoenix,” commented Mike Skinner following the Lucas Oil 150. “I was really happy that the guys were able to adjust on the truck throughout the race, but our truck bounced really badly all night and we struggled with that. The guys made a big, big swing at it and got about halfway to where it needed to be. If we could have made one more pit stop, I feel like we could have contended for at least a third-place finish if not the win. It was great to have International Truck and Monaco RVs on my Toyota Tundra tonight. We had EXIDE Batteries here on Tayler’s truck; and we’re just grateful for all these people including PC*MILER and Toyota who have supported our program every step of the way. I’m really proud of all my guys; everyone has been working really hard and it’s only a matter of time before you see us back contending for the win week after week.”
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will race into Homestead, Fla., for the 2010 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Friday, November 19. The Ford 200 will be broadcast live on SPEED, MRN Radio and Sirius XM Channel 128 beginning at 7:30 p.m. EST. Qualifying for the 200-mile event will take place just hours before the scheduled green flag and will appear on SPEED at 5:00 p.m. EST.