IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

October 23, 2006 Dustin Skinner Sets Pace In FASCAR Pro Trucks By Jack Smith USA International Speedway was host to the the FASCAR Pro Trucks on Saturday night as part of the Annual Forester's Race for Kids event. Throughout the day and during qualifying the air was very warm and we saw several race fans who learned even the late October sun in Florida can turn you beet red. Prior to the strat of the race the fans were treated to a pyrotechnic stunt show by Mark Hager, former Hollywood stunt man, whose performances are always just on the edge of sanity. VIDEO CLIP The Pro Trucks were the first event of the night and by the time the race got underway at about 8:30 the air had turned cool, the wind picked up and radar showed rain in the vicinity. Thankfully none of it affected the racing this night, though it may have had an effect on the setups of some of the trucks. Dustin Skinner set fast time in afternoon qualifying, making the 3/4 mile circuit in 24..035 seconds, nearly 2/10ths faster than Michael Pilla, coming off his first truck win at DeSoto Speedway on earlier this month. After the pills were drawn to invert the field, Fifteen year old Scott Bishop, down from South Carolina, was on the pole. Skinner had to start with his 5S Pro Truck from the 9th spot. George Morales, the series points leader, started in the seventh spot. The trucks quickly settled down after the initial jockeying for position, with the low groove cars getting the best of it, and ran for 21 laps before the first caution flag came out. Bishop, Mike Bailey in the 05 and Morales in the number 96 were plenty fast to distance themselves from the rest of the field in the early going. From fourth on back things were stacking up as Jimmy Gill seemed to be a bit slower than the dozen cars nose to nail behind him. Fifteen laps into the race the leaders had started putting a few trucks a lap down, and Skinner had worked his way to contest the third spot with Morales and Gill. A disaster was narrowly averted on lap 21 when Skinner dropped to the bottom going down the front straight to make it three wide with Morales in the middle and Gill nearest the wall. Contact was made and George Morales, as we have seen him do so often this year, manhandled the fish-tailing number 96 and kept it under control going into turn one. Skinner ended up in second as a result of his efforts. The first caution flag then waved as Kim Sheffler-Bennett lost control in turn three, no damage done. Dewayne Barrus tangled with another truck on lap 22, and a very unhappy Barrus watched his number 33 truck being towed off, done for the night. [Note this story originally said Gary Foxworth was involved which was incorrect-Editor] From this point on it was all about the restarts. Bishop got a horrible start when the green came back out, and Skinner nearly passed him for the lead going down the front straight, but Bishop was fast enough to outrun Skinner to turn one. "The truck in front of us had a lot more motor than we did, it was all on me to judge how far to stay back so I could get a run on him, if it wasn't for that, he killed us down the straightaway", Skinner said after the race. Skinner repeatedly tried to put the nose of the 5S machine under Bishop's truck but caution on lap 30 kept Bishop in the lead. The yellow flag got stuck in the "on position" as cautions flags waved on three times in quick succession between lap 30 and lap 35. Each time it was apparent Bishop was having difficulty getting the 0 Pro Truck going. Finally on the lap 35 restart Skinner got enough of a jump and beat passed Bishop to grab the top spot and never looked back as he drove away from the field for the victory. George Morales, Scott Bishop and Patrick Staropoli battled for second second but in the end Morales won out and Bishop settled for third and Staropoli fourth. Jimmy Gill held on to take fifth. The thirty-two trucks that started the race put on good show for a solid USA International Speedway crowd, the race was very competitive all through the field and the handful of cautions were minor incidents, other the Burrus-Foxworth wreck. George Morales will hold his points lead over Bishop going into the season finale on November 25 at New Smyrna Speedway. That event is billed as the Florida State Pro-Truck Championship 100. More information on the FASCAR Pro Truck series is available at www.fascar.org OFFICIAL RESULTS USA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY 1. 5s Dustin Skinner 2. 96 George Morales 3. 0 Scott Bishop 4. 97 Patrick Staropoli 5. 5 Jimmy Gill 6. 24m Michael Pilla 7. 05 Mike Bailey 8. 10 George Gorham, Jr. 9. 99 Kevin Henry 10. 141 Travis Hanson 11. 2 Joe Coulter 12. 24 Caesar Bacarella 13. 60 Chad Akins 14. 05x Steve Gill 15. 0b Billy Bishop 16. 02 David Hartin 17. 38 Ricky Moxley 18. 94 Andy Megronigle 19. 31 Jarrad Cawley 20. 89 Jimmy Crowe, Jr. 21. 10k Kim Scheffler-Bennett 22. 19 Chris Lewellen 23. 7 T.J. Chambers 24. 13 Ricky "D" Rubin 25. 28 Tom Schuette 26. 32 Bill Stacy 27. 20 Kyle Eastham 28. 57 Pete Lancelotti 29. 25 Gary Foxworth 30. 33 DeWayne Barrus 31. 27 Phil Luizzo 32. 87 Chad Ashley Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! or Email KARNACto send a letter to the editor!