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AUTO RACING

Skinner Wins 5th Straight Truck Pole

Published: May 26, 2007

MANSFIELD, Ohio - Mike

Skinner won his fifth consecutive NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series pole Friday, taking the top spot for today's Ohio 250 at Mansfield Motorsports Park.

Skinner, who lapped the half-mile oval at an average speed of 109.877 mph in his Toyota, is three poles short of the series record that he set in 1995, the year he won the series' inaugural championship.

"We've always run good here, but we've never got the finish to show for it," said the 49-year-old Skinner, the series leader.

Rick Crawford qualified second in a Ford at 109.336 mph. Defending champion Todd Bodine, 85 points behind Skinner in the standings, took the third spot in his Toyota, turning a fast lap of 108.840.

Johnny Benson was fourth, followed by Travis Kvapil, Terry Cook, Erik Darnell, Aaron Fike, Ron Hornaday Jr. and Matt Crafton. Hornaday, the defending race winner, is coming off a victory last week at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.

GORDON HAS BACKUP: Jeff Gordon believes Mark Martin's successful run as a part-time driver "has probably extended my career."

So when the Nextel Cup points leader was trying to decide who to ask to replace him if his wife goes into labor on a race weekend, Martin immediately popped into his head.

"I threw it out to him. It took a little while to convince him, but he's been very gracious," Gordon said Thursday. "I hope we don't have to use him. I hope it doesn't come to that. But wow, what an awesome opportunity."

Gordon's wife, model Ingrid Vandebosch, is due to give birth to a girl in late June. Gordon, who has never missed a race, will leave the track if his wife goes into labor - even though he would lose a week of driver points.

BIFFLE'S NEW CHIEF: Car owner Jack Roush is hoping a new crew chief will turn around Greg Biffle's disappointing season.

Pat Tryson, who was in his first season with Biffle's No. 16 car after serving as Mark Martin's crew chief, will be replaced by Greg Erwin. Biffle is 16th in the points standings with only one top-five finish.

"We obviously weren't performing at a level at which Jack expected and a change was made," Biffle said.

Erwin, a former engineer with Richard Childress and Chip Ganassi Racing, spent the past two years as Robby Gordon's crew chief.

"The fact that Greg Biffle is the driver was a factor that weighed heavily on my decision," Erwin said. "He is a straight forward kind of guy and I look forward to working with him."

Erwin will get a week to ease into the job. He'll be an adviser in the pit box at Sunday's Coca-Cola 600, while Roush engineering manager Chris Andrews serves as crew chief.

FRAUD CASE: At Austin, Texas, a former stripper was sentenced to nearly three-and-a-half years in federal prison Friday for attempting to embezzle more than $1 million from a bank to start her own NASCAR racing team.

Fatemeh Angela Harkness, 31, of Round Rock, Texas, pleaded guilty in January 2004 to conspiring with banker Gary Jones to embezzle more than $1 million from his Austin bank from 2000 to 2003. She received a 40-month sentence.

Harkness and Jones used the money to assemble a NASCAR team called Angela's Motorsports. The team, featuring driver Mike McLaughlin, entered cars in the Busch Grand National Series starting in late 2002.

The Associated Press