NASCAR Winston Cup Series UAW-GM Quality 500 Preview: #31, Mike Skinner
1 October 1997
#31 Mike Skinner, Lowe's Chevrolet Monte Carlo NASCAR Winston Cup Series UAW-GM Quality 500 Advance Charlotte Motor Speedway MIKE SKINNER NOTES & QUOTES: UAW-GM QUALITY 500 CONCORD, NC - Mike Skinner has been the top finishing rookie in 14 of the 27 races run so far this 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup season. David Green has been the top finishing rookie six times. Robby Gordon has been the top rookie in five races, while Jeff Green has been the top finishing first-year driver on two occasions. - Skinner has won more poles than any other rookie this season -- two to one for Gordon. Neither Green has yet to win a pole. - Skinner has more top-10s than any other rookie -- three to one for Gordon and one for Jeff Green. David Green has not finished in the top-10 so far this year. - Skinner has more top-15s than any other rookie -- four to two for Gordon and one for Jeff Green and none for David Green. - Skinner has more top-20 finishes than any other rookie -- eight to six for David Green, four for Gordon and two for Jeff Green. - As a result, Skinner holds a comfortable 213-181 point lead over Gordon in the race for the Rookie of the Year Award. David Green is third with 175 rookie points, while brother Jeff has earned 156 rookie points. - The only rookie category that Skinner does not lead is top fives. He has none, while Gordon finished fourth for the lone top five by a rookie driver this season. - Despite his 32-point lead in the battle for the Rookie of the Year title, Skinner is not ready to say he has accomplished one of his major goals for his first full season of Winston Cup racing. "People keep forgetting that it is your best 15 finishes, so all Robby or David or Jeff have to do is get hot and put together three or four real good runs and that lead is erased," says Skinner. "People have asked me to sign 'Rookie of the Year, 1997' recently. I'm not ready to do that. The rookie deal is not over." - Skinner thought he was going to get his fourth top 10 of the season in the Hanes 500 at Martinsville. "We had a really good car, especially on long runs," says Skinner. "We were just pacing ourselves for that last 50 laps. I was just following the 22 car (Ward Burton). I felt I was quicker than he was, but..." Burton and Skinner had just passed Mark Martin and Ricky Rudd to move into the top 10 when disaster struck Skinner with 50 laps to go. Michael Waltrip lost his brakes, hit the wall at the entrance to the front straight-away and then bounced off into Skinner. The accident ended Skinner's day. "I can't believe our luck," added Skinner. "We can't seem to catch a break lately." Ward Burton ended up seventh. - Despite his rash of bad luck since the Brickyard 400, Skinner is still convinced he can end the 1997 season on a high note. "We've got some races coming up that I feel real good about -- Charlotte, Talladega, Phoenix and Atlanta. I think we're going to run real well at each of these places," says Skinner. "Of all the races left, Rockingham is the only place where I'm not sure how we'll do. But I do know that we expect to run better at Rockingham the second time around. So I feel if we can get this gorilla off our back, we can put a good ending on this season. We just need a little racing luck." By Sports Marketing Enterprises