Mike Skinner To Make 200th Start In Kroger 200

Mike Skinner has three Martinsville truck series wins.

When Mike Skinner says Martinsville Speedway holds a special place in his heart, he isn’t being politically correct. He’s just being honest.

Skinner will be making his 200^th NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start at Martinsville Saturday in the Kroger 200. It is the perfect spot for the milestone.

“Martinsville is definitely one of my favorites. Normally I’m not a big flat-track fan, but I’ve always liked Martinsville and run well there,” said Skinner.

Skinner’s stats back up the love-affair. He has three truck series wins on the half-mile oval, the most of any driver. His Martinsville record is also the best of any track he as raced on with three wins, six top-five and nine top-10 finishes.

His first truck-series win came here in 1996, in just the second year of the series. More than a decade later, in 2007, he swept Martinsville, winning both the spring and fall events.

And he actually won his first Martinsville Speedway race in 1993, finishing up front in Martinsville’s prestigious Late Model Stock Car race, which draws over 100 cars each year.

One thing Skinner has learned in his years of racing at Martinsville, which includes many Sprint Cup starts, is that survival is the key to winning.

“A couple of years ago we swept Martinsville and we didn’t have a scratch on the truck,” said Skinner, who has three NCWTS wins this season. “But from second on back, it’s hard not to beat the bodies off the trucks up there.”

Skinner says he often reflects on his very first Martinsville Speedway start, actually in a Sprint Cup car in 1986. It was a fledgling operation, with little money, few crewmen and a young driver. And he made the field.

 “I remember standing there for the national anthem and I had tears in my eyes. Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip were all around me,” recalled Skinner. “I felt so fortunate to be there. I think of that moment all the time. It’s a special place for me.”

Skinner and his NCWTS rivals will hit the track for the first time Friday at 10 a.m. for practice followed by Sprint Cup practice at 11:30 a.m. The truck series has a second practice session at 1:10 p.m.

Qualifying for the TUMS Fast Relief 500 will begin at 3:10 p.m. and time trials for the Kroger 200 will start at 4:40 p.m.

The Sprint Cup cars hit the track at 10 a.m. Saturday and will have a second practice session at 11:15. The NASCAR Camping World Series Kroger 200 takes the green flag at 1 p.m.

The TUMS Fast Relief 500 will get underway at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday.

Fan gates open at 9 a.m. each day.

Tickets for the TUMS Fast Relief 500 on Sunday, October 25, the Kroger 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race on Saturday, October 24 and the Farm Bureau Insurance Pole Day on Friday, October 23 are on sale and can be purchased by calling 1.877.RACE.TIX or by visiting www.martinsvillespeedway.com.

Ticket prices range from $25 to $77 for the TUMS Fast Relief 500.