The No. 5 Toyota Tundra team and its driver Mike Skinner went to Phoenix International Speedway with hopes of extending their lead in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship standings. After capturing his very first Craftsman Truck Series victory at PIR in 1995, Skinner had hopes of dominating once again this year.

The team encountered a few issues during their first practice session Thursday afternoon. Skinner and his team worked under the hood of their Tundra, fixing everything they could. After making some adjustments to the front of the truck, Skinner and team got back on track and improved drastically, finishing the day with the fifth-fastest truck.

With an early qualifying draw, Skinner knew he had to muster all he could during his qualifying attempt Friday afternoon. He posted an incredible lap of 27.418 seconds to break his own series record of most poles during the season. It was his 11th pole of the season and 43rd career pole.

As the green flag waved Friday night to start the next-to-last race of the season, Skinner knew he had to do all he could to gain as many points as possible. He led the field on the first lap and earned the all-important five bonus points.

Skinner maintained the lead for the next 19 caution-filled laps. He soon reported to his crew that his Tundra could turn better in the gas. Therefore, on lap 36, Skinner dove down pit road for four tires, fuel and a trackbar adjustment. Another driver almost hit some of the No. 5 crew guys on pit road, and Skinner’s No. 5 team did all it could to get its Tundra out of the pit box on time. The altercation lost Skinner some track position, and he restarted 16th on lap 43.

Picking off positions one by one, Skinner drove his heart out to make it back to the front. He told his team that the handling of his No. 5 Tundra was now tight, and he did everything he could to move forward. The team was able to make another trackbar adjustment during the four-tire stop under caution on lap 71. After a great pit stop, Skinner returned to the track and did what he does best – drive.

Skinner worked his way to the front with only 50 laps remaining in the 150-lap race. Skinner once again fought a tight-handling truck throughout a hectic and crazy final 10 laps. As the checkered flag waved on lap 150, Skinner crossed the start/finish in the eighth position. He maintained the points lead and heads into the final race of the season with a 29-point lead over Ron Hornaday Jr. in second.

Skinner will attempt to capture his second Craftsman Truck Series Championship this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The race will be televised live on SPEED, Friday, Nov. 16.