Polesitter Skinner wrecks backup car

RICHMOND, Va. -- "It was meant to be."

ALSO Skinner earns his first Bud Pole Award since 1999 Play video  •  Skinner's Driver Page  •  Friday's Photo Gallery

With that simple five-word statement, Jerry Nadeau seemed to aptly describe the roller coaster ride MB2 Motorsports experienced Friday at Richmond International Raceway.

But he'd spoken a bit too soon.

Mike Skinner began the day by spinning the No. 01 Pontiac into the Turn 4 wall, hitting flush on the driver's side in an eerily similar manner to that which sidelined Nadeau for the remainder of the season. Unlike Nadeau, who spent three weeks in the hospital, Skinner emerged unscathed.

	Mike Skinner

After his team changed over the backup car from race trim to qualifying trim, Skinner steadily improved his practice times from 20th to 10th to second heading into Bud Pole Qualifying.

Then he won the pole for Saturday's Chevy Rock & Roll 400.

Afterward, MB2 Motorsports general manager Jay Frye sat bewildered, shaking his head about the emotional journey his team has trod in 2003.

"It's been a big day, obviously," Frye said. "To come here, and on your first lap wreck, driver's side -- there was a little bit of a cloud over the way our day started. But just like every other time this team has been through any type of adversity, it's worked hard, came back. We certainly didn't expect this. This was wonderful surprise."

Chevy Rock and Roll 400  Lineup  2nd Practice Speeds  1st Practice Speeds  Happy Hour Speeds

"What we did is what we're supposed to do," MB2 crew chief Ryan Pemberton said. "But what Mike's doing is above and beyond. That's a racer, and you've got to have mental toughness to do that. When the snake bites you to get right back up there and on the pace like he did, my hat's off to him."

Skinner agreed, saying "if we just don't practice, we've got it made."

He had no idea just how correct he was.

Fifteen minutes into the first of two practices Friday evening, Skinner was driving through Turns 1 and 2 and hit an oil patch on the track, once again sending him into the outside wall and totaling the team's second car.

This time, Skinner impacted the same spot Nadeau hit back in May.

	Skinner's primary car met the wall in the day's first practice. Credit: AP

"When I saw Mike hit the same wall Jerry hit, I thought I was dreaming," Pemberton said. "I couldn't believe what I just saw. As soon as I saw Mike was OK, I didn't know if I should cry or laugh because I didn't want people to make fun of me crying."

A third car had already been summoned to RIR following the day's first accident. Skinner must now drive it Saturday night.

"Well, you know when something like this happens, what do you do? We know what happened, we hit oil," Skinner said. "Do you quit? No. You get another car out and you put a good engine in it, put the same setup under it and hopefully it'll be awesome."

Jeff Burton paces Happy Hour

Skinner's troubles disallowed him the opportunity to run Happy Hour practice Friday, opening the door for Jeff Burton to pace the session.

Burton equaled his season-best qualifying effort Friday, seventh, then rounded the .75-mile RIR oval at 125.006 mph in the weekend's final practice for the Chevy Rock n' Roll 400.

Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Joe Nemechek ranked second through fourth, respectively, and Greg Biffle, Friday's second-place qualifier, rounded out the top-five.

Tony Raines was sixth, a nine-position improvement from the early session, while 2000 Richmond winner Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was seventh, followed by Jeremy Mayfield, Jimmy Spencer and Bill Elliott in the top 10.

Spencer was third-quick in the early session, just ahead of Burton. Todd Bodine paced the early session, but slipped to 13th in Happy Hour.