Race 2 Win: Aaron's 499 - Mike Skinner Notes

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Aaron's 499 - Mike Skinner Notes

Mike Skinner
Bad Boy Mowers Racing Event Preview

Track: Talladega Superspeedway (2.66-mile tri-oval) in Talladega, Ala.
Race: Aaron’s 499 Date: 05.01.05

Notes:

The No. 23 Bad Boy Mowers Dodge Charger at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend is Chassis No. 68. It has been run as the No. 23 Dodge in the past, but has since been rebuilt to comply with the new 2005 rules.

This Talladega will be Skinner’s 14th … This will mark Mike Skinner’s 14th start at Talladega. Skinner’s best finish at the Alabama track was a second-place finish to Jeff Gordon in April 2000. He achieved his best starting position of fifth twice (October 1998 and May 1997).

Double-duty weekend for Skinner … Before climbing into the No. 23 Bad Boy Mowers Dodge on Sunday to race in the Aaron’s 499, Skinner will compete in the No. 5 Toyota Tundra truck at Gateway International Raceway on Saturday in the Dodge Ram Tough 200. Skinner is currently 17th in the overall NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship standings. He gained 11 positions in the standings after finishing ninth in the Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway earlier this month. Qualifying for the NASCAR Craftsman truck Dodge Ram Tough 200 is scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m. CT Saturday, April 30, and the race time will follow later that same day at 8:15 p.m. CT. The race will broadcast LIVE on SPEED (TV) and MRN (radio).

Second time in 2005 …This will be the second time this year Skinner and Davis have teamed up to field the No. 23 in a Nextel Cup points race. Skinner raced the No. 23 Argent Mortgage car at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway in February, where he qualified 13th during time trials for the Daytona 500 and went on to finish 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.

This isn’t Bad Boy’s first either … This will not be the first time Bad Boy Mowers, Inc. has participated in the Nextel Cup Series with Davis. Bad Boy Mowers was an associate sponsor on the No. 23 car at Texas Motor Speedway in April 2004, when Dave Blaney brought home an 11th-place finish. Founded in 1998 and based in Batesville, Ark., Bad Boy Mowers, Inc. is a manufacturer of zero-turn commercial lawn mowers. Its vision for the future is to become the “Bad Boy” of the commercial mowing industry by providing its customers with a superior performing machine, second-to-none in power, durability and accessibility. To achieve this goal, Bad Boy has teamed with Briggs and Stratton Commercial Power to bring its customers the 31 horsepower Vanguard BIG BLOCK. This BIG BLOCK engine is the most powerful 31 horsepower air-cooled engine on the market. To learn more about Bad Boy Mowers, go to www.badboymowers.com.

Bad Boy Mower crew members … Along with Bill and Gail Davis, the following is a list of the crew members who will help Skinner with the No. 23 Bad Boy Mower Dodge this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway:

Crew Chief: Jimmy Penland

Car Chief: Doug Murph

Mechanic: Tom Hubert

Mechanic: Steve Spahr

Tire Specialist: Steven Barry

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

More onboard with Skinner … In addition to Bad Boy Mowers, five additional sponsors have joined the 23 team, including: Vanguard BIG BLOCK by Briggs and Stratton Commercial Power; Southern Marine (a quality marine products wholesaler that works with dealers located in Little Rock, Ark., Birmingham, Ala., and Charlotte, N.C.); Coneqtec Universal (Wichita, Kan.); Jasper Jeep Dodge - Chrysler (Jasper, Ga.); and FirstCommunityBank.net (a competitive inventory and retail finance partner of Bad Boy Mowers).

Catch it … Qualifying for the NASCAR Nextel Cup Aaron’s 499 is scheduled to start at 4:10 p.m. ET Friday, April 29, and will broadcast LIVE on SPEED (TV), MRN (radio) and XM Radio. The Aaron’s 499 is scheduled to start at 1:20 p.m. ET Sunday, May 1, and will broadcast LIVE on FOX (TV), MRN and XM Radio.

M. Skinner on heading to Talladega Superspeedway:
“Getting to drive this weekend for Bad Boy Mowers and getting back in a car with Terry Elledge power, is going to be fun. I’m excited to have Bad Boy Mowers on board. I know this entire deal would not be possible without their support. Bill has a great relationship with them. I hope to build on that and represent them well. It is a good fit. I’m in the landscaping business in Florida, so I’m going to make a deal with them: If I give them their first NASCAR Nextel Cup victory, then maybe they can get me a good deal on a mower.

“We’ve had a lot of success at Talladega in the past, and I am looking forward to running with the 23 team again. It’s a good team and a good group of guys who helped me have an awesome run in the Dayton 500 earlier this year. It’s nice to get another shot at a superspeedway. I felt like we could, if not win the race, at least be in the top five in Daytona, so getting to go back and run another restrictor plate race is going to be really good, not only for me, but everyone involved.

“Scott Wimmer is a great teammate, as well. He and the entire Caterpillar team helped us so much in Daytona. He is just a great person to work with, and I am not going to be able to practice the car on Saturday so Scott is going to jump in to make sure the car is going to be ready to roll on Sunday.”

M. Skinner on running at both Gateway International Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway in the same weekend:
“It is cool to get to do what I am going to do this weekend. I get to go to Talladega on Friday and practice and qualify, then jump in the airplane and go to St. Louis and race Saturday. Then, jump back on the plane and go back to Talladega to race Sunday. If you are a racer, that is almost the perfect weekend and is just a lot of fun. I like to race and that is why I do this. I am having a great time. It’s been fun running in the truck series and we’ve just had some tough luck but we’ve been very competitive.”

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