Mike Skinner headed to Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway hoping to better his finish at the 1.33-mile superspeedway in 2006. The crew took the same truck that Skinner dominated with at Kentucky Speedway earlier this year, and Skinner was ready to dominate at Nashville.

The handling of the No. 5 Toyota Tundra was somewhat tight early in practice Friday. The crew made a few changes to the truck, which enabled Skinner to vault to the top of the speed chart. After leading both practice sessions, Skinner looked forward to qualifying Saturday morning.

Skinner was the 12th driver to make his qualifying attempt. His time of 30.061 seconds earned Skinner his eighth Bud Pole of the 2007 season and the 40th of his NCTS career.

Skinner immediately pulled away from the rest of the field upon the start of the race Saturday night. It appeared he was set for another dominating performance. However, the handling tightened somewhat by lap 40, and Skinner was ready to come to pit road. He received relief on lap 43, as he pitted for four tires and fuel under caution. Skinner resumed the lead on the lap 47 restart.

Ten laps later, Skinner reported to his crew that the tires were bad, and he was in trouble. He maintained the lead until lap 103, and by this time the No. 5 Tundra was very tight. Skinner pitted under caution on lap 111, receiving four tires, fuel, trackbar and air pressure adjustments.

He restarted fifth on lap 115 and needed to quickly return to the lead. Skinner was among the top three with 25 laps to go, but the Tundra once again became tight. He ultimately finished third, which was his best finish at the Tennessee track.

Skinner continues to lead the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship standings by 82 points over Ron Hornaday Jr., as the series heads to one of Skinner's favorite tracks, Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. The race will be televised live on SPEED Wednesday, Aug. 22.