Welcome to NASCAR Trucks 2006

Mike Skinner Wins At Atlanta.

Craftsman Trucks Series

Mike Skinner bumps Clint Bowyer to take the lead on a restart seven laps from the finish Friday night and raced away to his second straight victory in NASCAR's Craftsman Truck Series.

Defending Truck Series Champ, Todd Bodine, followed Skinner past Bowyer to grab second place on lap 124 of the 130-lap event, but Skinner was just too strong and pulled away to a five car length victory. It was Mike Skinners 21st win of his truck career.

Skinner said, "I think the #30 of Bodine was probably the better truck tonight, but I was a little better on short runs and the cautions just kept coming out. I was fortunate to get by Bowyer on that restart and was just able to hold Todd off for that last few laps."

The victory gave Skinner the lead in points over Jack Spraque, who when the race started he was tied with, with 69 points over Bodine.

Skinner said, "Two races in a row we probably won with a second-place truck but, over the years, I've lost a lot of races with a first-place truck, so that's OK.

This race looked more like a Bristol race, it had a track-record nine caution flags, breaking the truck mark of seven set last fall.

Skinner said of the rash of yellow, "I don't want to badmouth anybody, but there's some people out there who have been around a while who need to calm down. They should know better by this time."

Bowyer slipped all the way to seventh, after losing the lead Then rallied to finish fifth behind Matt Crafton and Rick Crawford.

Boywer said, "Skinner just did what he had to do on that restart It was probably payback, I did what I had to do to win in a race last year at Texas."

Bodine was disappointed by the finish.

Bodine,disappointed with the finish, said "Our truck was just incredible on the long runs. But I knew when we got by Bowyer that there was no chance I was going to get Skinner. I saw earlier in the race that I was behind him for about 15 laps before my car came in and I could get by him.

"Our trucks were definitely equal on the short runs and mine was better on the long runs. I hated to see all those cautions at the end. We just didn't get the long run we needed. But our Tundra was pretty good and we'll take it."

Skinner, started from the pole, and Bodine dominated the race, but Bowyer, a Nextel Cup regular and occasional truck racer, found himself just behind rookie and former open-wheel star A.J. Allmendinger after some late pit stops by the leaders.

Bowyer chased down Allmendinger after a restart on lap 97, and passed him for the lead on the next lap. Meanwhile, Skinner and Bodine, who restarted fifth and sixth, were charging toward the front.

Skinner passed Bowyer for the lead on lap 100, but another caution came out on lap 101 when Kraig Kinser crashed. Bowyer passed Skinner on the restart at lap 109, taking Crawford with him.

Bowyer remained out front after two more caution flags waved for crashes by Bill Lester and Allmendinger. But Skinner got back out front for good, nudging Bowyer's rear bumper on the restart on lap 124 and taking advantage of the leader's slight wiggle to drive past on the outside.

Martin led 57 of the 134 laps, including the final 22, on his way to the triumph, his sixth in 14 starts this year in a truck for Roush Racing.

"We have been on a roll all year with that thing," Martin said. "It's been pretty special. Great people. Great effort. And it's been a lot of fun."

Martin crossed the finish line with Brendan Gaughan in second, Erik Darnell in third, Bobby Hamilton Jr. in fourth and Jack Sprague in fifth. Joe Nemechek, who led 37 laps, finished sixth.

Todd Bodine finished 21st and clinched the series title by a 127-point margin over Johnny Benson

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