Mike Skinner finds success in debut Truck season with Randy Moss Motorsports
Mike Skinner (left) discusses with NASCAR Camping World Truck Series banquet co-host Rick Allen the 2009 season, his first with Randy Moss Motorsports, during Monday's awards ceremony at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel. // David Griffin, NASCAR Scene
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Randy Moss Motorsports' Mike Skinner took huge strides with a new team this season, helping his organization build and finishing third in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series standings.
Skinner, 52, took his team to three wins and three pole positions in his first year with the group that he joined shortly before the season started. Skinner had planned to continue with his Bill Davis Racing team this season, but offseason changes left him briefly without a ride before he landed with the new group. RMM shifted to Toyotas, kept Skinner in his customary No. 5 and took off.
Skinner didn't take long to gain footing. He opened the season with a worst finish of 11th in his first four races and then went out and won the fifth, giving the team formed in July 2008 when NFL All-Pro star Randy Moss partnered with existing team owner David Dollar its first series victory.
The veteran driver endured a few setbacks over the season, notably an accident at Lowe's Motor Speedway that relegated him to a 29th-place finish, but overall Skinner showed the form that has kept him among the sport's elite over the years. The driver has five consecutive top-10 finishes in the Truck standings to his credit and shows no sign of slowing down.
Skinner doesn't have full sponsorship for next season, but he has said that he is confident that he will compete full time in 2010.
"I was pleasantly surprised, by far," Skinner said of his season. "I would never have guessed with the cards that were dealt to us last January that a team would have [this success], especially a team that had to change manufacturers, didn't have a sponsor. Man, you talk about a leap of faith, Randy Moss and David Dollar took a big leap of faith, and the Toyota folks backed me up, and I was shocked. I was very pleasantly surprised."
Driver: Mike Skinner
Age: 52
Team: Randy Moss Motorsports
Finishing position: Third
2009 stats: Three wins, eight top-fives, 17 top-10s, one DNF
Years in Trucks: Eight full time over an 11-year span
Career stats: In 204 starts, has 28 wins, 88 top-fives, 131 top-10s and 49 pole positions.
