Race: Las Vegas 350 (Race 20 of 25)
Track: Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Date: Saturday, September 24, 2005
Started: First
Finished: sixth
Laps Completed/Total laps: 152/152
Points Position: Fourth (Gained one position from last week)

Mike Skinner and the No. 5 Toyota Tundra team went to Las Vegas knowing they could not make any mistakes if they wanted to still be in the championship hunt. The team had a strong showing at the mile-and-a- half speedway in 2004, sitting on the pole and finishing sixth, but wanted to improve on their finish by five spots in Saturday night’s event. Skinner has excelled at tracks like Las Vegas all year and the team felt as if they had a shot for another top-five performance under the lights Saturday.

For the first time in weeks the No. 5 Toyota Tundra team was not happy with their Tundra’s handling right off the hauler. Skinner told his crew the truck would not turn in the corners and was really pushing up the race track. The crew worked hard in the two practice sessions to try and find a balance which would run well on a long run, but also was fast. The team experimented with a number of different spring and shock combinations, looking for one in which Skinner felt comfortable. By the end of the second practice, the team hit on something they felt would hopefully be good for the race.

Skinner went out late in the qualifying session, which played to the team’s advantage because the track was loosing heat and getting more grip. Skinner’s qualifying time of 32.67 seconds was good enough to grab the pole. He lined up right next to his teammate Bill Lester who was only two one-hundredths off his time. This was the fifth time during the 2005 season Skinner has led the field to the green flag.

Under clear skies, Skinner brought the 36-truck field to the green flag. Skinner was cautiously optimistic about his chances for a strong run on Saturday night. He knew his truck was strong for two laps but did not know how it would run during a long green-flag run.

On lap three Skinner said, “The truck feels pretty good. It’s a little loose in the middle, but I think it will be good.”

By lap 30 Skinner had faded to the fifth position but had settled in and was running very competitive times. Skinner called into his No. 5 crew on lap 45, complaining the truck was tight. Crew Chief Jeff Hensley told his driver the team would make adjustments to the Tundra under the first pit stop.

Skinner brought his Tundra down pit road 10 laps later for an uncommon green-flag pit stop. The team changed four tires and filled the truck with Sonoco racing fuel. They also made an air pressure and track bar adjustment to try to loosen up the truck. When the green-flag pit stops cycled through Skinner found himself in the seventh position.

The caution flew on lap 66 and the No. 5 Toyota Tundra team decided to follow the leader down pit road for service. The team again changed four tires and filled their Tundra with fuel and set Skinner back out on the track.

The race was restarted on lap 71 and Skinner found himself in the eighth position. He told his crew his truck was tight all the way through the corner, which delayed him from getting back to the gas. By lap 100, Skinner had piloted his truck into the fourth position and was running lap times as fast as the leaders.

Skinner continued to run inside the top five for the next thirty laps and was looking for another strong finish. In the last 18 laps, there were two caution flags, which really hurt the No. 5 team. They had built a lead over the rest of the field which had on fresher tires. Skinner told his guys he was going to do everything he could to stay in the top five, but was not sure if he could hold off his competitors who had fresher tires.

Skinner did all he could, but lost two positions on the last restart and came across the finish line in the sixth position. The team picked up one spot in the 2005 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series point standings, moving them into the fourth position and just 250 points out of first.

The team has three weeks off before returning to action at the Martinsville Speedway on October 22nd.