Skinner set for Shootout, uncertain on 500

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Mike Skinner will race in the upcoming Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway, whether a Daytona 500 ride is in his future or not.

MB2/MBV Motorsports general manager Jay Frye said Thursday that the team would field a No. 10 Valvoline Chevrolet for Skinner if some other prospects he is trying to secure don't come through.

	Mike Skinner qualified for the Shootout by winning the Bud Pole at Richmond in September.

Skinner had what he thought was a sure deal to drive not only in the Feb. 7 Shootout, a special event for the 2003 Bud Pole winners, but also in the Daytona 500, along with a handful of other Nextel Cup races.

But now only a month before the opening of Speedweeks 2004, neither Skinner nor his wife, Angela, has been able to confirm if a deal will be completed, though Angela Skinner said Thursday the deal was not dead.

Skinner is scheduled to test a Toyota in Craftsman Truck Series Preseason Thunder Saturday through Monday at Daytona.

"I'd love to race in the Daytona 500 and I had hoped to use my Shootout entry to help facilitate that," Skinner said. "I especially wanted to run the races here, in addition to kicking off my Toyota deal in the Craftsman Truck Series, because this is my home track."

Skinner's special event record at Daytona is exemplary. He swept the Cup poles for the Daytona 500 and Pepsi 400 in 1997, had a victory in the 1999 Budweiser Shootout qualifying race and another win in a 2001 Gatorade 125 qualifying race for the Daytona 500.

Frye said the commitment to put Skinner into a car next month was still valid.

"Is that a possibility -- yes -- pending what Mike does and what kind of deal Mike puts together," Frye said. "We made a commitment to him that we would do it if whatever other programs he is working on fell apart."

Frye said the wild card in the game is that his operation is in the middle of a conversion from the Pontiacs it ran last season to Chevrolets. MB2 will run U.S. Army Chevrolets for Joe Nemechek and MBV, Valvoline Chevrolets for rookie candidate Scott Riggs.

"The only thing that would change (the commitment to Skinner) is our window of opportunity is closing and it's closing rapidly based on our preparation for going down there," Frye said. "It's gonna have to happen relatively quickly where he says, 'Yes, I want to do that,' and that probably will be some time next week.

"Hopefully he can get his program put together because obviously we would like to see him run both races (because) he did a great job for us. We can't do both races (with Skinner) -- if we did something with him it would just be something for the Shootout."