SKINNER: Atlanta Preview
03-04-2009 5:46 pm

Exide Extends Partnership: The familiar Exide Batteries sponsorship will once again be on the No. 5 Randy Moss Motorsports Toyota for this weekend's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Exide, whose headquarters are located in Atlanta, was on the Mike Skinner-driven truck for the first two races of the 2009 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season, at Daytona and California, as the veteran wheeled his Tundra to seventh and 11th-place finishes respectively. In addition to their role as sponsor of the No. 5 Toyota, Exide is also the official battery of NASCAR.

Boss in Town: Randy Moss, NFL All-Pro Wide Receiver and co-owner of RMM, is scheduled to be at the American Commercial Lines 200 this Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Skinner and teammate Tayler Malsam will look to take their Tundras to Victory Lane and give their owner his first trip to the Winner's Circle.

Skinner at Atlanta: Skinner has competed in nine NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races at Atlanta Motor Speedway. In those nine races, the 1995 Truck Series champion has one win, coming in the 2007 spring race, where he also led a total of 67 laps. He has also recorded four top-five and five top-10 finishes, along with three poles (2005-fall, 2006-fall, 2007-spring). Skinner's average start is 3.6 and his average finish is 14.0, while he has led a total of 197 laps in NCWTS competition.

Also, Skinner has competed in two NASCAR Nationwide Series races at the 1.54-mile oval. In his first NNS start at AMS in 1999, Skinner won the race, leading a total of 72 laps. In NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition, the Daytona Beach resident has raced a total of 14 races, five of which resulted in top-10 finishes. Skinner has also led a total of 289 laps in NSCS competition.

Round Up, Y'all: During Mike Skinner's off-weekend after the Atlanta race, he and his wife, Angie, will be hosting their third annual "Toyota Skinner Round Up" presented by Halifax Health. On March 12th and 13th, the Round Up will take place at the famous Daytona International Speedway and Spruce Creek Country Club in Daytona Beach, Fla., where celebrities such as jazz & blues superstar Stacy Mitchhart, NFL star and RMM owner Randy Moss, NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly, award-winning singer/songwriter Edwin McCain, daredevil Robby Knievel, Betty Jane France, and NASCAR drivers A.J. Allmendinger, Boris Said, Rick Crawford, Ron Hornaday, and Steve Park will all be in attendance to help raise money for Volusia County charities. Over the last two years, the Skinner's along with these celebrities have raised more than $250,000 for area charities.

This year's event will raise money for the Council on Aging, Greyhound Pets of America, Halifax Health Foundation, Second Harvest Food Bank and Concerned Citizens for Animal Welfare. For more information about the third annual "Toyota Skinner Round Up" presented by Halifax Health, please visit www.mikeskinner.com.

Mike Skinner on Racing at AMS: "I'm excited to go to every track every week with this Randy Moss Motorsports team. We have been very competitive the first two races of the season and because of the cards dealt to us during those races, we have had two top-five finishes slip away. But Atlanta is a place that I truly love to go race at. Whenever we have good tires, we seem to have a really good race truck or car. I've had a lot of success at Atlanta - had a Cup race won before a parts failure, won a Nationwide race, and I've won a Truck race there too. It's just a good racetrack. We are going to take our California truck that ran so well, so it should run very competitively. Also, our partners, Exide are based out of Atlanta, so we will be able to hang out with them."

Mike Skinner on the third annual "Toyota Skinner Round Up": "I'm just so proud to partner with Toyota and to be able to do something for some of the great charities in Volusia County. Some of my good friends are going to come out and join me this year - Randy Moss, Edwin McCain, Jim Kelly, and then some of the NASCAR drivers that I have been racing with for years, like Hornaday and Crawford, just to name a few. And this year, Randy Moss is going to come for his first time, which is technically my boss since I'm driving his trucks. It is just awesome to see these people come out and give their time, effort, and money. It's a great event for the community and we'll be able to help a lot of great charities. I'm very excited about it."