Catching up with Mike Skinner

For years, Mike Skinner got to live his dream of racing across NASCAR’s top divisions.

Earning the inaugural championship in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 1995, Skinner went on to race in the NASCAR Cup Series full-time for Richard Childress Racing in 1997.

Skinner was the late-Dale Earnhardt’s first full-time teammate at RCR, where he raced until 2001. He attempted full-time schedules in the series through 2003, before returning full-time to the Truck Series in 2004.

He raced full-time in the series until 2010. The next year, Skinner returned to the Cup Series with Germain Racing before making his last NASCAR start in August 2012.

Yet, there is life after racing. Today, Skinner is as busy as ever.

Skinner and his wife, Angie, work together on their “Skinner Round-Up” radio show and YouTube page. They also hold events with the Rusty Wallace Charity Ride in Sturgis, South Dakota  

“Being married to Angie, it’s hard to not stay busy,” Mike Skinner said.

This year, Skinner has been back at the NASCAR track often. He is working as a driver coach for 25-year-old Lawless Alan.

Alan, who raced multiple seasons in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, is racing full-time in the ARCA Menards Series this year. He also has four Truck Series starts planned for 2025 with TRICON Garage. In his first of four starts, last week at Martinsville Speedway, Alan finished 10th. That matched his total from 2023 when he raced the entire season.

Skinner said he enjoys seeing Alan hone in his craft. 

When they’re not working, the Skinner family has been enjoying traveling the country, which Mike had wanted to do when he stepped away from driving.

“I’m living my bucket list,” he said. “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do and I’m blessed to be able to do it.”

Although Mike Skinner last raced in a NASCAR-sanctioned event over a decade ago, the 67-year-old said he has been offered multiple opportunities to return to the Truck Series, including when the series ran at various dirt venues throughout the 2010s and 2020s.

But the California native has turned down the offers.

“If I can’t get in a front-running truck, I don’t wanna go,” Skinner said. “We (Ron Hornaday Jr., Jack Sprague) had really great careers in racing, why go back and run 20th? I don’t want to do that.”

Skinner said he may consider if it was a race-winning program.

Every year, the NASCAR Hall of Fame committee meets and determines the short-list of 15 industry personnel who will be considered for the three annual inductees.

Last year, the NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee list included two-time Truck Series champion Jack Sprague. In 2018, four-time series champion Ron Hornaday Jr. was inducted into the Hall.

As a 28-time Truck Series winner and the first champion of the series, could Skinner’s name be on the shortlist to possibly make the nomination list this year?

Skinner is doubtful but doesn’t lose sleep over it.

In fact, Skinner doesn’t really look at what he did on the track. He more so is happy to still be involved in the sport.

“I was on the NASCAR Next program, I’m still on appeals committees, (I’m) still involved in the sport,” he said.

As the only driver who raced as a full-time teammate to Dale Earnhardt at Richard Childress Racing, Skinner holds a few lesser-known records. Among all drivers without a win in the NASCAR Cup Series, Skinner has led the most laps (1,029), won the most poles (six) and had the most occurrences of leading the most laps (four).

“It pisses me off because we dominated so many Cup races,” Skinner said on those records. “There’s no way you can’t win them when you have as good of a vehicle as we had in eight or nine of those races. We should be sitting here on 12 or 14 wins.”

There are no regrets in Skinner’s racing career. But he does have “some wonders.”

Skinner wonders, if he would have raced more full-time seasons in the Truck Series, could he have won more races and competed for more championships?

But he is grateful for his tenure in NASCAR’s top series.

“I dropped out of high school in the 10th grade. I flew back to Susanville (California) in my own Leer jet. Not many people can’t says that. Without the Cup Series, I never could have done that,” Skinner said. “I had a lot of great times.”

Skinner said he was and still is friends with many of his fellow racers. He is also enjoying the NASCAR Alumni Network, a program that has made it easier for former NASCAR competitors and industry personnel to stay in touch and attend various events at NASCAR race weekends.