Mike Skinner captured the pole position for the New Hampshire 200 Saturday morning and never fell out of the top five during the race later that day. Though he struggled a bit with a tight handling truck, Skinner drove his Toyota Tundra to a second-place finish on the 1.058-mile New Hampshire track.

Skinner was the 17th of 37 competitors to take to the "Magic Mile" for qualifying Saturday morning. He easily captured the pole position for the event, posting a lap time of 29.383 seconds (129.626 mph). It marked the fifth time this season Skinner has started from the pole.

It was an all Bill Davis Racing front row, as Skinner started the 200-lap race next to teammate Johnny Benson. The first yellow flag of the race waved on lap 45, and Skinner, who was running in third, let crew chief Jeff Hensley know that the handling of his Toyota Tundra was loose entering the corners and tight off. Hensley called Skinner into the pits for the first scheduled pit stop of the day on lap 46, during which the crew changed all four tires, filled the truck with fuel and made a track bar adjustment. It wasn't long before Skinner communicated to the team that the changes made the truck even tighter than it was before the stop. That didn't stop the 1995 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Champion from taking the second position.

Skinner continued to battle for the top spot while he battled the handling of his truck. The team planned to make additional changes to the handling during the next pit stop. Skinner was passed by points leader Todd Bodine on lap 89 and lost the third position to Kyle Busch several laps later. At the halfway point of the race, Skinner still stood solidly in the fourth place. On lap 120, the team took advantage of one of the numerous caution periods and made a pit stop. The crew changed tires, took wedge out of the truck and returned the track bar to where it was when the race began. Skinner remained fourth when the race resumed.

Skinner was passed by the No. 33 truck on lap 127, and he communicated to the team that the truck was still extremely tight on throttle. That didn't faze the veteran driver, who worked his way into fourth on lap 140 and passed Bodine for third nine laps later. Skinner told his team on lap 168 that the truck was very tight for the first several laps after a restart, but the handling of his Tundra had improved after some time. Skinner passed Busch for the second spot on lap 184 and never looked back. He took the checkered flag in second just behind Benson, who drove to his fourth victory of the season. Skinner's team gained one spot in the owners' point standings and now sits in the 14th spot with seven races remaining in the 2006 season.

The Craftsman Truck Series heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Smith's Las Vegas 350 Sept. 23.