Pit reporter Jamie Little nips Skinner in celebrity race
By SceneDaily Staff
Sunday, April 20, 2008
LONG BEACH, Calif. - ESPN pit reporter Jamie Little held off NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Mike Skinner by .324 seconds in race-modified Scion tCs to win the 32nd Annual Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race on Saturday.
"When you interview a winning driver after the race, they always tell you how they just try to get through that last lap," said Little after beating Skinner, a repeat winner in the Pro Category. "Well, now I know exactly what they're talking about."
In a last-lap duel, Skinner made contact with Little coming out of the hairpin turn on the 1.97-mile street circuit through the downtown streets of Long Beach to pull side-by-side, Little was able to get back on the gas and pull in front of Skinner as the two came to the finish line.
"That was fun," said Skinner. "Knocked a little paint off my car and had a blast."
"You go into the event with everyone out here wanting to help raise money for charity and have fun," said Little, who will give the $5,000 from Toyota to UCI Reeve/Irvine Center in California for spinal cord injury research. "But when the race starts, the competitive juices take over and everyone wants to win."
In the Professional category, Skinner never gave up the lead. After starting 30 seconds behind, he quickly made up ground and caught up with the tail end of the celebrities by lap 3. He then maneuvered through traffic, catching the leaders with just two laps remaining.
