Mike Skinner to drive RacingAwareness.com Modified on August 28

Mike Skinner won the 1995 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion in the series' inaugural season. In 1997, for Richard Childress Racing, he won the pole for the Daytona 500 in his rookie season. Mike is one of few drivers to have won poles in all three of NASCAR's national series. The California native also holds the distinction of being the first driver to win $1 million in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

The accolades are plenty for the very personable Mike Skinner. And while Mike has driven just about every kind of race car at just about every major track across the country, on August 28th he’ll do something for the very first time; drive a modified at the Berlin Raceway in Marne Michigan. 

Skinner will be in town to race the Racing Awareness Modified following the truck series race at Chicagoland the night before.  “I’m really excited to get up to Grand Rapids and race”, Mike said. “Johnny (Johnny Benson Jr) has told me so much about the track and the fans there. This should be cool”.

August 28th will be a big night of racing at the 7/16th mile oval, featuring the Model Coverall Modified Mania Night presented by Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital Foundation. Joining the new Modified series will be the Super Stocks, Pro Stocks and 4-Cylinders. $1.00 per ticket will go to Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital Foundation in conjunction with Racing Awareness.

While Mike is perhaps best know for his 28 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series wins, 2nd all time behind Ron Hornaday, the 53 year old driver was a staple in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for more than 10 years. Skinner won several non-point races including two wins in Japan. He also holds the dubious honor of being the only racing teammate Dale Earnhardt Sr. ever had.

Mike says the pressure to win at Berlin is just as great as it is when he straps into his Toyota Tundra now that his close friend AJ Allmendinger won with the same Modified car he’s set to drive. “Of course the pressure is on now. I was coming to win before I heard that he had won. Now it’s about bragging rights. He’d (AJ) never let me live it down if I can’t do what AJ did”.

The Racing Awareness team Modified is normally driven by Mike Bursley, who has two wins this season. Bursley stepped aside in June to allow Allmendinger to take the wheel and he’ll do the same on the 28th for Skinner. Norm Jelsma, one of the three team owners along with Bursley and Jeff Striegle, says the driver line up has been a key part to both of the team’s goals: “having AJ and Skinner race with us has been fantastic. They have been great people to work with, it’s increased the awareness and that helps us raise money for the kids. I know the fans are really going to enjoy meeting Mike Skinner … and watching him race”.

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