Mike Skinner Breaks His Own Record at Goodwood Festival of Speed

 

1995 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Champion Named “Driver of the Day” for the

2015 Goodwood Festival of Speed

WEST SUSSEX, England (June 29, 2015) – Former NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Mike Skinner was back to his winning ways on Sunday as he broke his own record time for the NASCAR class of competition at the iconic Goodwood Festival of Speed. After damaging his primary truck on Saturday afternoon, Skinner entered the final round of competition driving the 10th Toyota Tundra racecar ever built. He paced the race against the clock for the NASCAR division to beat the record time he set in 2014 by more than half-a-second and was identified as the “Driver Of The Day” at the 2015 Goodwood Festival of Speed, making for a storybook ending for the American NASCAR driver on his birthday.

“I love participating in the Goodwood Festival of Speed,” Skinner said. “To set the record-time for the second year in a row is very special for us. We knew we had a bulls-eye on our back this year, so to be able to come back and still come out on top means a lot to our group. We couldn’t do this without the support of great partners like Textron Aviation, Cessna, Beechcraft, Remington and Toyota, and I’m happy that we were able to represent them in victory lane.”

Participating in his fifth Goodwood Festival of Speed event, Skinner had to overcome adversity throughout the weekend en route to his record setting run. Skinner was originally slated to compete in the No. 5 Cessna / Remington Toyota Tundra, but that truck sustained competition-ending damage when it made contact with the chicane during Skinner’s Saturday morning practice run. As a result, Skinner’s teammate and business partner, Andrew Franzone handed over the wheel of his historic Toyota Tundra entry to enable Skinner to make a timed-run in the final round of competition on Sunday afternoon.

Climbing back in the truck he nicknamed “Old Faithful,” Skinner recorded a 50.22-second lap to improve his 2014 record time by more than half-a-second. In a tight competition, Skinner’s small team, composed of Chris Paulsen of C&R Racing, and Jamie and Dustin Skinner of Racecar Solutions, brought home a 0.05-second win against some of the most successful teams in NASCAR. The effort earned Skinner the “Driver Of The Day” title for the first time in his Goodwood career.

The victory was made possible through joint partnerships with Textron Aviation, Cessna, Beechcraft, Remington, Venus Manhattan / Los Angeles Galleries, Sentinel Real Estate Corporation, Forbes Private Capital Group, Maui Jim, Justin Boots, Charlie 1 Horse Hat Company, WIX Filters, C&R Racing and Racecar Solutions.

“I can’t thank Andrew Franzone enough for backing our effort as our team owner,” Skinner said. “He was doing a great job driving our historic Toyota Tundra in the hill climb. However, when things went awry with our primary truck, he graciously stepped aside to let me behind the wheel. The weekend didn’t exactly go as planned, but it certainly made for a great story, and made our second win at Goodwood that much more special.”

Hosted by Lord March at the Goodwood Estate in West Sussex, England, the 22nd annual event featured every kind of car imaginable from the 1800s through today and attracted some of the most accomplished drivers in motorsports.

“Lord March throws the best party I’ve ever been to in my life,” Skinner said. “He’s a class act. He opens his home to all of us for this great event, to compete and have a good time, and look at so much beautiful mechanical art. I’m already looking forward to the 2016 Goodwood Festival of Speed.”

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MEDIA CONTACT:

Ashleigh Aungst

A2B Strategies for Mike Skinner Enterprises

Mobile: 717.222.0664

Email: Ashleigh@A2BStrategiesLLC.com

Skinner looks for more success at Goodwood Festival of Speed

Shown is the truck Mike Skinner will race in the Goodwood
Festival of Speed in West Sussex, England, the next four days.
Photo courtesy of Mike Skinner

By Jeff Wilen
jeff.wilen@news-jrnl.com

Published: Thursday, June 25, 2015 at 6:19 p.m. 

Last Modified: Thursday, June 25, 2015 at 6:51 p.m.

Semi-retired and back in Daytona Beach full-time, Mike Skinner is staying busy.

Through Sunday, Skinner is taking part in the Goodwood Festival of Speed in West Sussex, England.

Skinner is the only driver representing the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. He will have two trucks.

“We love to come here and represent NASCAR and the Camping World Truck Series,” Skinner said by email Thursday. “However, the reason that we chose to bring a truck again was purely because of the history of Bill Davis Racing and Toyota and what we were able to do in that time period.

“The trucks have a lot of downforce, so they're a lot of fun to drive, and they're a lot of fun to drive up the hill.”

The Goodwood Festival of Speed is an annual event on the grounds of Goodwood House. It features a variety of former racing vehicles, including Formula One cars and NASCAR stock cars.

This is Skinner's fifth time at the event. Last year, he shattered the long-standing record time set by Rusty Wallace, completing the 1.16-mile hill-climb course in just 50.75 seconds.

“We outran the Sprint Cup cars, and we realized that we now have a large bull's-eye on our back now,” said Skinner, who between 1986-2012 ran in all three of NASCAR's main circuits. “They put a lot of effort into their programs this year.

“It was an honor to break Wallace's record that had stood for the last six years, and I'm sure that our record will be broken, too — if not this year, then sometime. It was pretty cool to be that little mark in history here.”

In an exhibition run, Skinner's friend and business partner, Andrew Franzone, will drive the No. 5 Toyota Tundra paint scheme Skinner drove from 2004-08. Franzone owns the trucks, and will be driving the truck that set the record time last year.

“We've done a lot of work with Andrew on road-course instruction through Race Car Solutions,” Skinner said. “It's a great hobby for him, so it'll be really cool for me to see the truck go back up the hill and know that the guy driving it has been a tremendous support for our effort.”

Franzone's truck delivered the first NASCAR win for Toyota, with Travis Kvapil behind the wheel at Michigan International Speedway in 2004.

“It's very historic, so we didn't want to change anything on it,” Skinner said. “It's basically just like it raced.

In his timed run, Skinner will drive a similarly painted truck driven to the 2008 championship by Johnny Benson.

“I have no sentimental value to that truck, so we really worked hard on that truck and modified it a lot,” Skinner said. “It could never be an original anymore. We tried to lighten it up and tried to make it faster. Textron Aviation, Cessna, Beechcraft and Remington came on board to help us try to defend our record with that truck.”

Skinner also will bring back the Skinner Round-Up charity event to Volusia County in October. The event will raise money for the Council on Aging.

“It's great to be back in Daytona,” Skinner said. “My kids and grandkids are all in Daytona. My wife, Angie, and I spent a lot of time in Volusia County. When we moved to Statesville (North Carolina), it was just for a very short period of time. But we missed Florida, so we came back.

“Council on Aging is a very important charity for us that is dear to our hearts, as well as Halifax Health. Local charities for us are a way to give back to our community and to also be connected to the county and state that we love.” 

But for now, Skinner's focus is in England.

“It's a dream come true for me to be semi-retired, get to work with my two sons and have a partner like Andrew who has made it possible for all this to come together.

“Andrew loves mechanical art, and we love to build mechanical art. So it's a win-win for both of us.”

Mike Skinner to Compete at the Goodwood Festival of Speed

 

1995 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Champion Looks to Improve his 2014 Record Time in the NASCAR Division with NASCAR Camping World Truck Entry
 

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (June 9, 2015) – Former NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) champion Mike Skinner will return to the Goodwood Festival of Speed for the fifth time in his career. Looking to improve the record time he set on the course in 2014, Skinner will return to this year’s Festival with a Toyota Tundra truck in the NASCAR class.

“The Goodwood Festival of Speed is one of my favorite events,” Skinner said. “It’s so iconic, and it brings together the best drivers and cars from all forms of motorsports. By itself, it’s a very special event to be a part of, but the way that we do it makes it even more special to me. My sons come along and work as mechanics on our trucks, and we have a group of partners that have become close friends to my wife Angie and me—it’s like a big family. To be able to represent not only those companies, but also NASCAR as a whole, makes me very proud. We’ve spent a lot of time over the last 12 months building a bad ass truck, and we hope to go out there and improve on the record we set last year.”

Skinner, along with good friend and business partner Andrew Franzone will return to the Goodwood Festival of Speed with two trucks, both carrying the No. 5 that represented so much success throughout Skinner’s NCWTS career. The team’s first truck will run the historic No. 5 Toyota Tundra paint scheme that Skinner raced in the NCWTS from 2004-2008. After Skinner used the truck in 2014 to break the record time at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the team will return with the same truck this year. This time, Franzone will be behind the wheel as the historic No. 5 makes its run. 

“I’ve worked with Andrew quite a bit on his road course and oval track training,” Skinner continued. “He’s come a long way in the two years that we’ve worked together, and I’m excited to watch him run at this year’s Festival.”

The team’s second truck running the No. 5 paint scheme will showcase partnerships with Textron Aviation, Cessna, Beechcraft, Remington, Venus Manhattan / Los Angeles Galleries, Sentinel Real Estate Corporation, Forbes Private Capital Group, Maui Jim, Justin Boots, Charlie 1 Horse Hat Company, C&R Racing and Racecar Solutions. Additionally, a special decal for Hope For The Warriors will showcase the charitable organization that both Skinner and Franzone support. Prepared by Skinner and his two sons, Jamie and Dustin, Skinner will be piloting this second No. 5 machine and gunning for another record-setting time in the NASCAR class on the hill climb course. Both Toyota No. 5 trucks were purchased from Skinner’s former NCWTS team owner Bill Davis.

“Andrew Franzone has been so great backing this effort as our team owner,” Skinner said. “To have his support on this deal for the second year in a row has been a lot of fun. Likewise, I’ve worked with so many great companies over the years, and I’m thrilled to have several of them join us in our efforts like Maui Jim, Justin Boots and Charlie 1 Horse, and C&R Racing. Meanwhile, it will be our first year working with Cessna, Beechcraft and Remington at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, but I think they’re in for a big treat and we’re looking forward to hosting them.”

In 2014, Skinner broke the record time for a NASCAR stock car to win the NASCAR division at the iconic Goodwood Festival of Speed also driving for team owner Andrew Franzone. Racing the 10th Toyota Tundra stock car ever built, Skinner paced the eight-car race against the clock to shatter the record formerly held by Rusty Wallace, and he completed the 1.16-mile hill climb in just 50.75 seconds. 

Hosted by Lord March at the Goodwood Estate in West Sussex, England, the 22nd annual event will feature every kind of car imaginable from the 1800s through today and will attract some of the most accomplished drivers in motorsports. From the NASCAR garage, this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed will also feature NASCAR Sprint Cup Series cars from Richard Childress Racing and Michael Waltrip Racing. Additionally, Richard Petty, “The King”, will showcase his famous Plymouth Superbird. This year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed will take place June 25-28, 2015. Follow @MStheGunslinger on Twitter, or @SkinnerRoundUp on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram for news and updates throughout the event.
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MEDIA CONTACT:
Ashleigh Aungst
A2B Strategies for Mike Skinner Enterprises
Mobile: 717.222.0664
Email: Ashleigh@A2BStrategiesLLC.com