Mike Skinner saw his qualifying streak end at Texas. (VPS Motorimages Photo)

Skinner's Pole Streak Ends: Mike Skinner (No. 5 Toyota Tundra Toyota) saw his streak of consecutive Budweiser Poles end at six last Friday, two short of the series record he set in 1995. Skinner was knocked off the pole by Todd Bodine (No. 30 Lumber Liquidators Toyota) by 0.081 of-a-second.

Skinner is the most proficient qualifier in series history. He has 38 career poles in 138 starts, leading 2nd place Jack Sprague by eight poles.

Skinner set the series record with eight consecutive poles in 1995, the series' inaugural season. He went on to win four of those races.

Skinner won two of the six races he started on the pole this season. He has won seven races from the pole in his career, one short of Sprague's series record.

Team Owner Hits Political Road: Gene Christensen, owner of Green Light Racing, announced his candidacy to run for U.S. Congress on Friday. The Colin County resident is seeking to represent Texas' 4th Congressional District.

Green Light Racing fields two trucks in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series - the No. 07 Lester Buildings Chevrolet driven by Tim Sauter and the No. 08 GPSStore.com Chevrolet driven by Chad McCumbee.

In addition to his duties as owner and president of Green Light Racing, Christensen is a businessman and philanthropist. He is the Executive Director of People Against Drugs and the Affordable Public Housing Agency.

NEXTEL Cup Stars Go Truckin': At least six NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series stars will trade in their cars for trucks this weekend to compete in the Michigan 200.

AJ Allmendinger (No. 00 Aaron's Lucky Dog Toyota), Kevin Harvick, Bobby Labonte (No. 4 Open Joist Dodge), Ken Schrader (No. 18 Fastenal Dodge), Mark Martin (No. 21 Ford), and Kyle Busch (No. 51 Chevrolet) are all expected to compete in Saturday's race.

Martin and Labonte finished two-three to Johnny Benson at Michigan last year.