NASCAR Winston Cup Brickyard 400 Preview -- #31, Mike Skinner
24 July 1997
#31 Mike Skinner, Lowe's Chevrolet Monte Carlo NASCAR Winston Cup Series Brickyard 400 Advance Indianapolis Motor Speedway MIKE SKINNER NOTES & QUOTES: BRICKYARD 400 INDIANAPOLIS, IN - Skinner's sixth-place finish in the Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway was a career-best. - His other top-10 finish -- ninth -- this year came in the Miller 500 at Dover, Del. - Skinner has been the top finishing rookie in 11 of the 18 races run so far this season. As a result, he holds a commanding lead in the race for the 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year Award. Skinner has earned 179 rookie points compared to 147 for David Green, 133 for Robby Gordon and 63 for Jeff Green. - Skinner is the first driver in NASCAR history to win both pole positions at Daytona International Speedway -- the Daytona 500 and the Pepsi 400 -- in his rookie season. - Although this is Skinner's rookie season, this will not be his first race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He drove in relief for Dale Earnhardt in last year's Brickyard 400. Earnhardt suffered a broken collarbone and sternum a week earlier in a savage crash at Talladega, Ala. Skinner got in the car during the first yellow flag on lap seven. He finished 15th, one of 21 drivers on the lead lap. Good pit strategy by the GM Goodwrench team allowed Skinner to lead one lap. - Skinner has led six of the 18 races this season. - As part of Richard Childress Racing, Skinner spent five days testing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard 400. "We are very happy with our test," says Skinner. "We seem to be getting around the track pretty well. We tried a lot of different things and different cars. We weren't the fastest (among the test speeds), but we were pretty close to the top. We feel we are going to be in real good shape for the race." - Skinner believes the second half of the season is "going to be a good one for the Lowe's team. I am really looking forward to going back to a lot of these tracks. That top-10 at Pocono really felt good, and I hope to get a lot more of those during the second half. Even during the last part of the first half, we had some real good race cars. But our luck wasn't too good. We were either blowing an engine or breaking a rear end or the driver was missing pit road or getting caught up in a crash. But we went to Loudon and had a good run and had a good run at Pocono. I think things are really turning around for this team. - Both Skinner and car owner Richard Childress believe the rookie driver can win a race before the season is over. "We've had a car capable of winning already a couple of times this year, but we haven't put the whole picture together," says Skinner. "Winning in Winston Cup takes a total team effort. Everybody on the team, including the driver, has to get good enough to be in contention to win a race. We're not quite to that point, but we're getting closer every week. And we're going to get there before the year is over." - Adds Childress, "we set high expectations for the Lowe's team, and I think it's coming together. We've shown the potential of it the last three weeks. Mike has a tremendous amount of talent. Rookies have won races in Winston Cup before. Dale Earnhardt did. And it's not out of the realm of possibility for Mike to win a race if we put the complete race team behind him." By Sports Marketing Enterprises