Mike Skinner (racing driver)

Early career

Skinner began racing at Susanville Speedway in the 1970s in a Plymouth Road Runner at various California dirt tracks, winning three championships. He soon moved to North Carolina and worked as a crew member for Rusty Wallace and at Petty Enterprises. In 1986, he made his NASCAR debut in the Sprint Cup Series, driving the #19 Pontiac for the Zanworth Racing Team, and had a best finish of 22nd in three starts. The following year, he made his Xfinity Series debut at Darlington Raceway, finishing 27th in the #0 Hunt Tire-sponsored Oldsmobile. He did not compete in NASCAR again until 1990, when he drove the #13 Glidden Paints-sponsored Buick for Mansion Motorsports at North Carolina Speedway, finishing 35th with rear end failure. He ran four races for Dixon over the next two years, before running one race in 1993 for Jimmy Means.

In 1994, Skinner began racing late models for Gene Petty, and won a local track championship. He and Petty also began racing in the Xfinity Series in the #88, winning one pole in the Kentucky Fried Chicken-sponsored Chevrolet, but failing to finish a race.

Richard Childress Racing

Skinner was selected by Richard Childress Racing to drive the #3 GM Goodwrench-sponsored Chevrolet Silverado for the first SuperTruck Series by Craftsman season. He won the first race in the series, and collected seven more victories en route to winning the first championship. He equaled his win total the following season, but fell to third in the standings. That year, he ran five races for RCR in the Sprint Cup Series, qualifying in the top-ten three times and having a best finish of twelfth in the #31 Realtree-sponsored car. He also filled in for teammate Dale Earnhardt when Earnhardt was recovering from injuries suffered in a wreck at Talladega, where he flipped after contact with Sterling Marlin.

In the 1997 NASCAR Sprint Cup season, Skinner was promoted to full-time, driving the #31 with a sponsorship from Lowe's. He won poles at both of the season's races at Daytona International Speedway and had three top ten finishes. Despite failing to qualify for one race and a 30th-place points finish, he won the Rookie of the Year award. He had nine top tens during his sophomore season, but finished 21st in points after being forced sit out three races due to injury. He also won two exhibition races in Japan during those two seasons, when NASCAR held races in Asia for the first time. He finished no worse than sixth in the first four races of the 1999 season, and held the points lead briefly during the early portion of the season. He had a total of fourteen top 10 finishes and ended the year with a career-high tenth place in points. He also returned to the Xfinity Series, driving the #19 Yellow Freight Systems-sponsored Chevy for Emerald Performance Group. He won his only career race at Atlanta after being disqualified for a rules infraction, before NASCAR overturned its decision.

Skinner had eleven top 10s in the 2000 season, but fell to twelfth in points and lost his crew chief Larry McReynolds, who retired from NASCAR to broadcast the series on Fox Sports. Skinner declared in early-February 2001 that he had left RCR.

In the 2001 season, he had only one top ten and suffered severe injuries in a wreck at Chicagoland Speedway after cutting a right-front tire and crashing head-first in turn 1. He was forced to miss the next five races because he suffered a concussion, a broken ankle, and a torn ACL in the crash. Free agent driver Robby Gordon was tapped to replace him and had a few top tens. Then the news broke out that Gordon would replace Skinner in the #31 Lowe's-sponsored Chevy after the 2001 season for a several-year deal which puzzled many NASCAR fans and drivers; as well as the fact that Lowe's resigned from RCR to sponsor Jeff Gordon and Rick Hendrick's co-owned team for the NSCS rookie Jimmie Johnson, in 2002. Skinner returned at Michigan, but after another accident at Richmond, Skinner opted for surgery to repair his ACL. He announced the next morning after the accident that he would miss the remainder of the season. In his announcement, he bid farewell to Richard Childress and his team; he also announced that Robby Gordon would replace him again and wished him luck.

Robby Gordon finished off the season with an upset victory at New Hampshire.

2002–present

Skinner signed on to drive the #4 Kodak-sponsored Chevy for Morgan-McClure Motorsports in the 2002 season. He had only one top ten finish and finished 31st in the final points standings. He continued to struggle when the team switched to Pontiac in the 2003 season and after failing to qualify for the Sirius 400, he was released. He spent the majority of the rest of season running part-time in the Truck Series for Billy Ballew Motorsports before being selected to replace Jerry Nadeau for MBV Motorsports. His final race of the season came at Homestead for Michael Waltrip Racing.

In 2004, Skinner returned to the Truck Series to drive the #42 Toyota Tundra for Bang! Racing. He was running ninth in points when conflicts between Toyota and Bang's owners allowed the team to split and run the #5 Toyota Tundra for Bill Davis Racing. He won two poles and finished eleventh in points with no victories. He collected two wins in 2005 and finished fifth in points in the Truck Series while running a part-time Nextel Cup schedule for Davis and R&J Racing. He won only one race in 2006 and fell to 10th in points, while filling in at other series with FitzBradshaw Racing, Front Row Motorsports, and CJM Racing. In 2007, he won five Truck Series races and fell short of winning the championship by 54 points.

Skinner's only win in the 2008 season came at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and he finished sixth in Truck points. He also ran a part-time schedule in Sprint Cup, filling in for A. J. Allmendinger at Team Red Bull early in the 2008 Sprint Cup season. Skinner made two additional starts in the #84 Red Bull Car during the Chase for the Sprint Cup, as Allmendinger would not be back in the car for the 2009 season. Skinner was also hired by Michael Waltrip Racing to drive the #00 Champion Mortgage-sponsored car in the Sprint Cup Series for three races: Michigan, Bristol, and Auto Club Speedway.

Skinner was under contract to drive for Davis throughout 2009, but the team was sold and ceased operations. On January 29, it was announced that Skinner would drive one of two trucks that Randy Moss Motorsports fields, the #5 Exide Batteries-sponsored Tundra. Skinner attempted to qualify for the Daytona 500 in the R3 Motorsports #23 Mahindra Tractors-sponsored Chevrolet Impala SS, but failed due to engine trouble at the Gatorade Duels. Skinner drove in a few Sprint Cup races in Tommy Baldwin Racing's #36 car that year. He also drove the #70 Chevrolet Impala SS for TRG Motorsports in NASCAR's Top series late in the season. In the Truck Series, Skinner won three races with Eric Phillips and finished third in points to Ron Hornaday, Jr. The next season, however, would be quite different. Phillips left RMM after the 2009 season to be the crew chief for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Veteran Gene Nead initially replaced him, but Nead left the team after Charlotte, being replaced by team engineer Stacy Johnson. Their season would only go downhill from there, with Skinner grabbing only two top fives and an eight-place finish in the points. Skinner parted ways with RMM on January 19, 2011.

In 2011, Skinner attempted to qualify the #45 Toyota Tundra for Eddie Sharp Racing at Daytona, but failed to make the race on speed. Skinner was ineligible to use his past champion's provisional due to ESR entering the #45 after the entry deadline. He drove #60 Big Red Soda-sponsored Toyota Camry for Germain Racing in the Sprint Cup Series and also spent a few races driving the #32 Ford Fusion for FAS Lane Racing. He also drove for Tommy Baldwin Racing in Alanta after medical issues forced Dave Blaney from the car.

In 2012, Skinner drove the #8 Eddie Sharp Racing Chevrolet in the season-opening Truck Series race at Daytona, but was involved in a crash with teammate Cale Gale and failed to finish the race. In early May, Skinner joined Hamilton Means Racing to drive the No. 52 in the Sprint Cup Series starting in the Bojangles Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. His last start was the 2012 August Michigan race. He has not raced ever since.

In 2016-2017 Skinner became the new test driver for the Amazon Video motoring show The Grand Tour.

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Sprint Cup Series

Daytona 500

Camping World Truck Series

¹ Ineligible for series points

ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)