Mike Skinner: NASCAR's New Medicine Man

Mike Skinner, one of the wily, "older" veterans of NASCAR, has worn many hats throughout his career.  He has driven in all racing series, from Cup to Nationwide to the Craftsman Truck series, where he is known as a fierce competitor. 

Skinner's latest role, however, is that of medicine man, coming into the Cup ranks to work with younger drivers who are struggling.  He diagnoses their problems, qualifies their cars, coaches them, and then moves on after working his miracles.

Skinner, at 50 years of age, came to racing later in life.  He grew up in Susanville, California and never even got behind the wheel of a race car until he was 19-years-old.   With drivers nowadays getting their racing starts in go karts or midgets as early as age 5, Mike was already an anomaly in the racing community. 

It took Skinner until the age of 28 years before he ever even made it to the show, piloting a car in the Cup series.  He is now most commonly known as a Craftsman Truck series regular, successfully driving his Toyota Tundra for Bill Davis Racing.

But recently, Skinner has been tapped by many Sprint Cup teams to come in to help drivers when there is a problem, with the car or with the team. 

Earlier this season, Mike was tapped by the Toyota Red Bull team to help young A.J. Allmendinger.  

A.J. was having a terrible time qualifying the car, often spinning out and crashing.  He was losing confidence fast, which only led to further problems.

The team took the bold step of pulling Allmendinger from the car and putting Mike Skinner into the mix.  Skinner's role was to use his veteran race skills to diagnose the problems with the car; giving better information to the team about how to set it up to more effectively make the race. 

In this case, Skinner made the world of difference, restoring the team's confidence.  He also coached young A.J., getting him more and more comfortable with the car, his team, and his driving abilities. 

Allmendinger has been running much better, thanks to the Skinner diagnosis and prescribed course of action.

Shortly after the Watkins Glen road course race, Skinner was approached again to work his miracles.  This time, it was by Michael Waltrip Racing, whose young gun Michael McDowell, was really struggling. 

McDowell stepped out of the car and Skinner stepped in, qualifying the car today at Michigan International Speedway in the 22nd spot.  Once again, Skinner is poised to diagnose and help this struggling race team.

While it may not be the role that Skinner would most love to play, he is acting in a critical capacity for race teams and drivers in difficulty.  And he seems to be having the time of his life.

Not only is he thoroughly enjoying the Michigan weekend, he also recently quipped that he would have paid Michael Waltrip to let him race the car as he will do at the next race in Bristol.

Skinner will most likely continue to wear many hats as he looks to the sunset of his racing career.  But he can most certainly take pride in having some of the greatest impact in his new role as miracle worker and medicine man.