Notebook: Skinner fills void in ‘No Bull 5’ promotion

Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2001 | 11:05 a.m.

Mike Skinner will replace the late Dale Earnhardt as one of the Winston "No Bull 5" drivers eligible for a $1 million bonus if they win Sunday's UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 NASCAR Winston Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Earnhardt had qualified for the million-dollar program by virtue of his win in the last "No Bull 5" race of the 2000 season, the Winston 500 last October at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

The top five drivers from the Winston 500 automatically qualified for the first "No Bull 5" race of this season. Skinner finished sixth at Talladega and was added to this week's "No Bull 5" lineup following Earnhardt's death in the season opener at Daytona.

Like Earnhardt, Skinner drives a Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing.

This year's race marks the third time Las Vegas has hosted the "No Bull 5" program. Jeff Burton claimed the million-dollar bonus last year by winning the rain-shortened race. It was Burton's third million-dollar bonus; he won two "No Bull 5" races in 1999.

Five fans, picked from a nationwide sweepstakes, also will be eligible to win $1 million. A fan will be paired with each driver and if that fan's driver wins the bonus, the fan also is awarded $1 million.

Last year's Winston Cup race at LVMS drew a near-capacity crowd of 130,000 despite early-morning rains that eventually led to the race being called after 148 (of a scheduled 267) laps.

Loomis, crew chief for Jeff Gordon No. 24 Chevrolet, was fined $25,000 when Gordon's car was found to be under the specified height requirement.

Barry Dodson, crew chief for Mike Wallace's No. 27 Ford, was fined $1,000 and penalized under NASCAR rules for using "parts and/or equipment (that) do not conform ... or have not been approved by NASCAR."

The 24-year-old native of Bakersfield, Calif., will run the remaining Winston Cup schedule in the No. 29 GM Goodwrench-sponsored Chevrolets prepared by Richard Childress Racing -- the cars that Earnhardt had campaigned for the past 17 years.

Harvick joins Kurt Busch, Ron Hornaday, Andy Houston, Jason Leffler and Casey Atwood as those drivers competing for Raybestos Rookie of the Year honors.