THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 29, 1995 TAG: 9510290168
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PHOENIX LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
Mike Skinner, who has been unable to get a career rolling in the Winston Cup and Grand National series, captured the first NASCAR SuperTruck championship Saturday.
And he did it in style, winning the GM Goodwrench/Delco 200K by 0.25 seconds over Ernie Irvan.
``I tell you, this is great,'' Skinner said. ``Everybody stood behind me when we were having our low times and kept me pumped up. And when we were having high times, they kept my head from swelling up.
``(Truck owner) Richard Childress gave me an opportunity that really made a big difference in my career.''
Actually, the low times were few and far between for Skinner, who won eight of the 20 truck races and captured the title by 126 points over Joe Ruttman.
Skinner led 89 of the 124 laps and said he went after Saturday's victory because ``you can't win nothing being conservative.''
Irvan, who led 25 laps, said, ``We were pretty close. We actually ran faster at the end, but it wasn't good enough.''
Geoff Bodine was third, followed by Ted Musgrave and Ron Hornaday Jr.
IRVAN CRASHES: Less than 30 minutes after taking second place in the SuperTruck race, Ernie Irvan hit the wall backwards in his Winston Cup car. The crash occurred in turn one early in the final Winston Cup practice session.
What happened?
``Go ask Lake Speed,'' an angry Irvan said in the garage as his team scrambled to prepare his backup car.
Speed said he was blending into traffic when he felt a bump and nearly spun.
An Irvan team member said, ``Our favorite driver cut down on Ernie and he hit the wall.''
Irvan will have to start from the rear of the 44-car field in today's Dura Lube 500.
LABONTE RE-SIGNS: Terry Labonte and his crew chief, Gary DeHart, have signed five-year contract extensions with car owner Rick Hendrick.
``This is the best team I've ever been with,'' Labonte said. ``We had a three-year deal with a year left on it and we signed a contract for five more years. That really made me feel good, knowing Rick wanted to do that.''
NEW OWNER: The latest owner of a Winston Cup team, attorney David Blair, dropped by the press room Saturday to talk about his purchase of the No. 27 Ford Thunderbird team, which fields cars for Chesapeake native Elton Sawyer.
Blair, who is from Batesville, Ark., the same town where Mark Martin and Bill Davis grew up, said Davis got him started in racing.
``After Bill and Gail got involved, I started hanging around the garage,'' he said. ``I just hung around too much. Maybe I was brain-dead. But after 30 years trying lawsuits, I thought maybe I'd try something different.'' by CNB