 |
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 |
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.”
No comments:
Post a Comment