Mansfield: Skinner post qualifying interview

MIKE SKINNER, No. 5 Toyota Tundra, Bill Davis Racing Qualified: 2nd How is your truck this year compared to the one that sat on the pole in 2007? "The truck is set up very similar to the way it was last year. I think I freaked out a little bit ...

MIKE SKINNER, No. 5 Toyota Tundra, Bill Davis Racing
Qualified: 2nd

How is your truck this year compared to the one that sat on the pole in 2007?

"The truck is set up very similar to the way it was last year. I think I freaked out a little bit watching everybody lock the brakes up, so I threw the first lap away and that was the fast lap for Johnny (Benson). I probably shouldn't have done that. If I made a mistake, that was it, by throwing away the first lap. I just cruised around the first lap and rode the brakes all the way around the track, so when it was time to go, I knew I wouldn't lock the brakes up. I needed to get some heat in the rear brakes. The pads we run these days have to have heat to grip. We saw a lot of people lock the brakes up. We got beat by a tiny little bit, but if you're going to get beat, getting beat by a Bill Davis Racing truck and another Tundra is the way to do it."

How different was the track in practice than it was later in qualifying?

"When it started cooling off, the race track really started tightening up. We saw a lot of guys getting loose. Jeff (Hensley, crew chief) tightened our truck up a little bit, and I don't think we really needed to. I think our truck was okay the way it was. I don't blame him, if that's what you see happening. It was so close. If I don't throw the first lap away, we have a shot at it."