FanHouse Mike Skinner

The combination of NASCAR's safety developments over the past decade likely saved another driver from serious injury or worse Friday night at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

On lap 34, Mike Skinner dove to the low side of Johnny Sauter, caught the infield grass and spun a complete 360 before plowing head first into the third dogleg of the LMS frontstretch during a Camping World Truck Series event. Another truck collided simulaneously with Skinner, flipping the black No. 5 truck on its side.

Anybody catch the NASCAR Craftsman Series Truck race last night? What a wild finish.

I only caught the last 17 or so laps--when I tuned in championship battlers Mike Skinner and Ron Hornaday were running 7th and 8th with only three points separating them in the standings. I almost kept the remote moving ... nothing to see here. But I know better than that.

With four laps to go, Hornaday and Skinner were leading the field on a restart--rookie Chad McCumbee put the moves on both veteran drivers passing them three wide on the low side. Chaos ensued. McCumbee led the next restart and, with a two-lap green / white checker finish, appeared on track to collect his first series win.

McCumbee spun his tires on the restart, though, collecting Jack Sprague and making way for Ted Musgrave to score his first win since his 2005 championship season.

Tony Stewart has been pretty much MIA for any questions from the media in a few of the past Nextel Cup events in the Chase.

Currently, the Home Deport Chevrolet sits fourth in series points, 249 points back of the series leader Jeff Gordon.

Now, I fully realize that Stewart's rule about attending media sessions was clarified after Phoenix this year, and from that I know that he doesn't have to talk to anyone unless he finishes in the top-3.

Let's just say that the top-3 has been elusive for the Indiana driver during the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

Regardless, it just doesn't seem fair to Tony's fans that they have to wait for driver No. 20's comments either from the satellite radio show he hosts or from a press release from Joe Gibbs Racing as an advance press release for the coming race weekend.

As a result, I, as one of your gracious hosts of the NASCAR FanHouse, have posted some thoughts and observations from Stewart about the coming race at Atlanta and his position in points.

"Until somebody comes up and says, 'OK, mathematically you are out of it,' until then, we have a shot," said Stewart.

Hm. That was meaty. I can see why that would be tough to talk about after a race. Right.

"All we can do is just do our job," he said. "Even if we win the race for the last four weeks in a row, there is still no guarantee that we could close the gap.

Enjoy it while it lasts, I suppose.

For the guys who apply the name decals to the Haas CNC No. 66 Chevrolets and the No. 36 Bill Davis Racing Toyota, Monday brought plenty of new work.

Jeremy Mayfield will replace Jeff Green in the No. 66 immediately after departing Bill Davis' ride. He'll be there in 2008 as well.

For the guys who apply the name decals to the Haas CNC No. 66 Chevrolets and the No. 36 Bill Davis Racing Toyota, Monday brought plenty of new work.

Jeremy Mayfield will replace Jeff Green in the No. 66 immediately after departing Bill Davis' ride. With the No. 36 BDR ride available (and lacking a sponsor in '08), Davis hired a pair of Craftsman Truck Series drivers with past Cup experience to finish out the year.

Johnny Benson and Mike Skinner will split those duties. Skinner gets the gig at Atlanta this weekend and then at Texas Motor Speedway while Benson will wrap up the year at Phoenix and Homestead.

With Scott Riggs already announced as a Haas CNC driver for 2007, the driver lineup will completely change at Haas with both Jeff Green and Johnny Sauter on the way out it seems.

Could Mike Skinner be having more fun?

He misses the money of Nextel Cup, but says he wouldn't trade his truck for anything.

And what a truck it is.

His #5 Bill Davis Toyota Tundra is "hooked up." So far in the 2007 NCTS season he's sat on two poles and had three wins--the third consecutive one coming in Martinsville.

Martinsville is a special place for him since that is the place he finally got his future wife's attention after he'd been chasing her for awhile. The first meal he and Angie shared was a Martinsville hot dog. He's says then she couldn't even cook a hot dog. But now she has her own cookbook, Race Day Grub (Recipes from the NASCAR family).

Skinner talks about the Martinsville "rectum rockets," his season, IRL driver Helio Castroneves and college basketball in this really fun SpeedFreaks interview (audio).

With all three of NASCAR's national series running at AMS this weekend, schedules will be busy for drivers across the board. Despite the track time, appearances and other commitments, several drivers will have one eye turned towards the NCAA Tournament – especially Brendan Gaughan.

Gaughan is a former college basketball player himself, spending four years as a backup to Allen Iverson at Georgetown University. During his time at Georgetown, the Hoyas made two Sweet 16 and one Elite Eight appearance.

"I don't know if there is a way to really get people to understand what its like to be there and be part of the phenomenon," Gaughan said. "You're 18, 19 years old. You're a child, and you walk into an arena and there are 30,000 people. You walk in there, you know the national media is there, all of the main announcers are there, the entire sports world is there. And you take the court – its amazing."

Gaughan's former team will take the court Thursday night, one day before he takes the track for the American Commercial Lines 200.

Several NASCAR competitors weighed in on the NCAA Tournament, here are their picks:

Brendan Gaughan (No. 77 South Point Resort Chevrolet), NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
Final Four Picks: Georgetown, Kansas, Ohio State, Wisconsin
Champion: Georgetown
"I was there – I got to play it, I got to live it – so for me, for the rest of my life it will be a big part of every March. Whether I'm racing or not, I'll be watching the games – yelling for the Hoyas and loving the Cinderella stories. And when I'm at home in Las Vegas, you'll find me sitting in front of 10 TVs at a Sports Book at the South Point watching every game."

Kurt Busch (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge), NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series
Final Four Picks: Arizona, Kansas, North Carolina, UCLA
"I always let my heart weigh in more than logic and rarely is that a smart move. For my final four, I'll have to go with UCLA, Kansas, Arizona...the Wildcats will have to have miraculous tournament play, but I just have to hang with them since they did get a bid (Kurt attended Arizona for a year prior to deciding to go racing fulltime)... and of course I have to throw the North Carolina Tar Heels in there, too."

Robby Gordon (No. 7 Jim Beam Ford), NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series
Final Four Picks: Florida, Nevada, Texas, UCLA
Champion: UCLA
"For the national championship I'm going to stick to my California roots and take UCLA. The Bruins, like my sponsor Jim Beam, know that the stuff inside matters most and that will take them to the title."

Kasey Kahne (No. 9 UAW/Dodge Dealers Dodge), NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series
Final Four: Florida, Ohio State, Virginia Tech, Washington State
Champion: Ohio State
"I can't overlook our teams from the Northwest. Washington State will make the Final Four. Florida is the defending NCAA champion; the Gators know tournament pressure. Virginia Tech has been a giant killer at times this year. There's just one giant they can't handle...Ohio State. The Buckeyes win the championship this time, just not against Florida."