Race 2 Win: Coca-Cola 600 - Mike Skinner Notes

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Coca-Cola 600 - Mike Skinner Notes

Mike Skinner No. 23 Bill Davis Racing Event Preview

Track: Lowe’s Motor Speedway (1.5-mile quad-oval) in Concord, N.C.
Race: Coca-Cola 600 Date: 05.29.05

Notes:

The No. 23 BDR Dodge Charger at Lowe’s Motor Speedway this weekend is Chassis No. 77. It has been run as the No. 23 Dodge in the past, but has since been rebuilt to comply with the new 2005 rules.

Third time’s the charm … This weekend will be the third time this year Skinner has teamed up with Bill Davis to field the No. 23 in a Nextel Cup points race. He most recently raced the No. 23 Bill Davis Racing Dodge last month at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, where he was taken out of contention in the 25-car pileup on lap 132 of the 194-lap event (started 34th, finished 42nd). He also raced the No. 23 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway in February. Skinner had an impressive performance during the two weeks of Speedweeks competition, qualifying 13th during the time trials and finishing third—neck-and-neck with the Dale Earnhardt Inc. cars—in the first Gatorade 150 Duel, which lined him up seventh to start the 47th running of the Daytona 500. With barely 13 laps left to run in the 500, Skinner was collected in the ninth and final caution of the race, relegating him from a top-10 run to a 30th-place finish.

Team No. 23 tested & approved … Skinner and the No. 23 BDR team tested at Lowe’s Motor Speedway May 4.

Meet Skinner in Charlotte … Mike Skinner and his team owner, Bill Davis, will visit Uptown Charlotte on Saturday, May 28, to meet race fans and sign autographs from 11 a.m. to Noon ET, at the Konica Minolta Speed Streets display.

Catch’em on NASCAR LIVE … Skinner and Davis will also stop by NASCAR LIVE at the LMS trackside SPEED Stage early Saturday afternoon (May 28) from 12:45 to 1 p.m. ET, to talk about their third NASCAR Nextel Cup run together this year and what is yet to come. You can also catch their visit at that same time Saturday from home on SPEED TV.

Team 23 roster … Along with Bill and Gail Davis, the following is a list of the crew members who will help Skinner with the No. 23 Dodge Charger this weekend at Lowe’s Motor Speedway:

Crew Chief: Jimmy Penland

Car Chief: Tom Hubert

Mechanic: Steve Spahr

Tire Specialist: Steven Berry

Shocks: Jason Everhart

Spotter: Mike Swain

Truck Driver: Robbie Flint Over-the-wall crew

FT Carrier: Shane Pugh

FT Changer: Phillip Norris

Jackman: Joel Taylor

RT Carrier: Curtis Martin

RT Changer: Bill Hagerthy

Gasman: Scott Weston

Catch can: Kevin Gately

Don’t miss any of it … Qualifying for the NASCAR Nextel Cup Coca-Cola 600 is scheduled to start at 7:10 p.m. ET Thurs., May 26, and will broadcast LIVE on SPEED (TV), PRN (radio) and XM Radio. The Coca-Cola 600 race is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. ET Sunday, May 29, and will broadcast LIVE on FOX (TV), PRN and XM Radio.

M. Skinner on heading into the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway:
“After testing at Lowe’s earlier this month and running in the truck race last weekend, the track is definitely smoother in turns three and four. There is not a lot of a difference in turns one and two except there is a little more grip up in the middle groove than their used to be. I think you will see a lot more side by side racing because of the improvements that have been made to the speedway, which will be great for the fans as well as the competitors.

“The last time I raced in a NASCAR Cup race at Lowe’s [in 2003], we qualified near the front of the field and had a pretty good car. We fell out of the race before the finish because of a motor issue, but the track is different now. I’m excited about running the No. 23 car again for Bill Davis Racing, and hopefully we can be as competitive as we were back in 2003.”

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