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Chasing No. 1 Skinner ready to make Daytona 500 his first win
Posted: Sunday February 20, 2000 11:13 AM
Ryan Smithson, CNNSI.com DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- In 1994, Sterling Marlin made the Daytona 500 his first Winston Cup victory -- and his career took off as a result. "We need to put that to bed," Skinner said. "We have won every non-points race you can think of, and it looks like we are the best team that hasn't won a race." It's pretty easy for a driver to say that they are planning to make the Daytona 500 their first career win. Almost half of Sunday's field -- 20 drivers -- has never won a Winston Cup points event. But Mike Skinner is different. Skinner is entering his fourth season driving the No. 31 Chevrolet for Richard Childress, and many are predicting a breakout year for the 42-year-old -- a year that could start with a Daytona upset. All the ingredients are there. Skinner has always run well at Daytona -- two of his four career poles have come at the 2.5-mile tri-oval, and he has a victory in a Twin 125 event here. Larry McReynolds, one of the most respected crew chiefs in Winston Cup, is back for another season. "We know that Larry is gonna be with us. And I think that experience will lead to more consistency," Skinner said "I have got another year under my belt." Skinner was expected to win in 1999 after a strong second half in 1998. He started the season with a fourth-place finish in the Daytona 500 before cruising to three more top-10 finishes in the next three races. He led the points for three straight weeks. Then, Skinner came back to earth. He finished in the top 10 just twice in the next 12 races to fall out of the top-10 in points. For a time, it appeared Skinner would end the year out of the top-10 in points, but he finished eighth in the season finale to secure the coveted spot. "Our goals are to win a couple of points races this year, and try to finish in the top-5 in points," Skinner said. "If we can maintain our standing in the top-10, then what would be nothing to be ashamed of. "Of course, we would like to win the championship just like everyone else. We have go to build up to that point -- to where the team has the strength to do that." The team will have to work overtime to shake down the new Monte Carlo template that has been the talk of Speedweeks. Skinner's teammate Dale Earnhardt has been the most vocal of the critics, saying simply, "We need a faster race car." But Skinner's car has been fast right off the hauler. He started and finished second in the second Twin 125 qualifier to secure the fourth spot -- the only Chevrolet in the top seven. "I think you are going to see three or four Chevys that are pretty good in this race," Skinner said. "It's not bad. It is going to take us a little time to get it developed."
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