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Saturday, August 18
Skinner admits he's likely out
Associated Press

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Richard Childress' plans for his No. 31 team for the 2002 Winston Cup season became a little clearer this week when he announced Cingular Wireless would sponsor the car.


	Skinner

Who will drive the car is still up in the air.

Mike Skinner returned this weekend after missing four races with an injury. Robby Gordon filled in for Skinner, nearly winning last week's race at Watkins Glen.

Although Skinner has another year left on his contract with Childress, he said he doesn't expect to be back.

"I'd love to drive that 31 car next year, but I don't think that's going to happen," Skinner said. "I wish Cingular and Richard Childress Racing a lot of luck next year."

An RCR spokesman said a driver for the car might be announced this week.

Meanwhile, Childress announced Saturday that his Busch Series teams will feature two-driver combinations next season.

Kevin Harvick and Johnny Sauter will share duties in the No. 2 car, with Jeff Green and Jay Sauter driving the No. 21. Harvick and Green will run the events held in conjunction with Winston Cup races, with the Sauter brothers running the others.

Harvick and Green will race the full Winston Cup schedule in 2002.

"The pros are that we are going to tie in Jeff's crew chief and Kevin's crew chief with the Winston Cup side like we were doing this year," Childress said. "The negative is not being able to run for the championship. But I feel that with either one of these race teams we could win the owner's championship."

Petty milestone
Kyle Petty makes his 600th career start Sunday, the 13th driver in NASCAR history to reach the mark.

"I guess my 600th career start means I've been here too long," Petty said. "The cool part about doing that for me is just being around all these people. To have been here for that many starts and to have raced against that many guys that have come along -- that's pretty cool."

The 41-year-old Petty made his first start in 1979. He's won eight races in his career, but none since 1995. He's struggled this year, failing to qualify for eight of the 22 races.

"It probably should have come a lot quicker, but it wasn't something that you were trying to do," Petty said. "You just kind of ended up with it."

He starts 36th on Sunday in the Pepsi 400.

Extra duty
Stacy Compton has been busy on and off the track.

Besides driving Mark Melling's Dodge, Compton has been helping the team search for a sponsor for next season. He's also checking out available rides in case Melling can't replace Kodiak.

"I'd love to stay with these guys but we've got to find a sponsor," Compton said. "Mark has already told me if we don't find one that he'll let me out of my contract. He understands that if he holds onto me until the end of the season it'll be a lot harder for me to find a ride."

Compton, who starts 28th in Sunday's Pepsi 400, won the pole at Talladega Superspeedway in April and has four top-15 finishes this season.

"It's been up and down this season," he said. "We really stumbled midway through the season. The first half of the year started out great. Then we sort of stumbled a little bit. But we've got a little momentum going now."

Spark plugs

Thirty-nine of the 64 NASCAR races here have been won by drivers starting in the first two rows.

Ricky Rudd has the most starts (50) at Michigan of any driver entered in Sunday's race.

In his 17 races at the track, Jeff Gordon's average finish is seventh place. He has won twice, including in June.

Bobby Labonte's two Michigan wins in 1995 mark the last time a driver swept both events in the same year.

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