Former
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Champion to Pilot the No. 8 Chevrolet
DENVER, N.C. (February
9, 2012) – Eddie
Sharp Racing (ESR) has announced that 1995 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
(NCWTS) champion Mike Skinner will join the team for the season opening race at
Daytona International Speedway on Friday, February 24. The one-race deal will place Skinner behind
the wheel of the No. 8 Chevrolet for the NextEra Energy Resources 250 in
Daytona Beach, Fla.
“Daytona is a bit like a
homecoming for me,” commented Mike Skinner, driver of the No. 8 Chevrolet. “Angie and I lived here for 15 years, so we
still have a lot of friends and family in the area. I love coming here to race, and I know the
equipment at ESR is good. If everything
goes according to our plan, at the end of the night we’ll be up front and
competing for the win.”
After purchasing assets
from Kevin Harvick Inc. following the conclusion of the 2011 season, ESR
expected to run three full-time teams throughout the 2012 season. Having Skinner in the No. 8 Chevrolet entry
at Daytona International Speedway moves the organization closer to that
goal.
“ESR has made a
significant investment over the winter and the vision is to have three
full-time teams,” commented Eddie Sharp, owner of Eddie Sharp Racing. “We have two down [with Justin Lofton in the
No. 6 CollegeComplete.com Chevrolet and Cale Gale in the No. 33 Rheem
Chevrolet] and one to go, and now with the opportunity to race Daytona with
Mike, we’re inching closer to that happening.
The goal is to keep Mike in the truck all year and run for a
championship. If you miss Daytona
winning a championship is no longer possible—you have to be there.”
“I’m really excited to
have the opportunity to drive for Eddie again this year at Daytona,” Skinner
continued. “We’ve been in heavy
negotiations with a sponsor who has signed an agreement to sponsor our truck
the entire season. We’re waiting for the
funding to be put in place, which would allow us to race every week and compete
for the championship. If the funding
doesn’t come through, then Daytona will probably be our only race unless some
other sponsorship comes along. In the
event that the sponsorship does come through, we can’t afford to miss
Daytona—you can make up for hiccups here and there, but you can’t just give up
a whole race on the front side of the year.”
Eddie Sharp Racing and
Mike Skinner are still searching for sponsorship opportunities to continue
competing in the No. 8 Chevrolet for the remainder of the 2012 NASCAR Camping
World Truck Series season. Anyone
interested in expanding their marketing plan to include a NASCAR sponsorship is
encouraged to contact Daren Havens, Director of Business Development, Eddie
Sharp Racing, at (704) 489-8809.
The NextEra Energy
Resources 250 from Daytona International Speedway will be broadcast live on
SPEED at 7:00 p.m. EST on Friday, February 24.
Radio coverage of the 250-mile event will be available on MRN and SiriusXM
NASCAR Radio, Channel 90, beginning at 7:15 p.m. Fans can also tune into SPEED to watch
practice sessions at 12:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. EST on Thursday, February 23, and
qualifying just prior to the race at 4:00 p.m. EST, on Friday, February 24.
About Eddie Sharp Racing
Eddie Sharp Racing (TeamESR.com) is a championship winning race
team housed in a 40,000 square-foot facility in Denver, N.C. After just
four short years of competition within the ARCA Racing Series, the team
impressively accumulated upwards of 20 race wins. 2009 was a pivotal year
for ESR, as they dominated the series with six race wins, 15 top-fives and 19
top-10s en route to the series championship with driver Justin Lofton. In
2010, ESR made the transition to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
In 2011, Sharp and Lofton were reunited within truck competition. In 2012, ESR
expands to three teams, as Lofton returns to the No. 6 Chevrolet Silverado,
Cale Gale joins the team behind the wheel of the No. 33 Rheem Chevrolet
Silverado, and for Daytona, Mike Skinner drives the No. 8 Chevrolet Silverado.
