Skinner takes pole at Richmond

But driver forced to start at back of pack in tonight's Chevrolet 400 after crashing in practice

? Mike Skinner made a surprising comeback after crashing in practice Friday and got his sixth career Winston Cup pole in a backup car at Richmond International Raceway.

The recovery was dramatic for Skinner, who called his run “a little bit of fuel for the soul.” But it also was short-lived. After winning the pole, his Pontiac went through some oil on the track in another practice session and slammed into the wall.

The race team, which has used several drivers since Jerry Nadeau was seriously injured in a crash during practice here in May, summoned a second backup car from Charlotte, N.C.

Skinner, whose lap at 125.792 mph bumped Greg Biffle to the outside of the front row, now will start at the back of the field tonight in the Chevrolet 400.

Before his up-and-down day went steeply down again, Skinner joked with Nadeau about painting the car a different color just for Richmond.

“‘You didn’t make it through practice, and I didn’t make it a lap before I tore the hell out of it,”‘ he told a laughing Nadeau, hospitalized for 31/2 weeks in Richmond after his accident May 2.

The laughs were harder to come by after the second crash.

“This is just my luck. We’re running out of cars,” Skinner said, guessing that he ran through oil dropped by teammate Johnny Benson. But Benson’s team said the car wasn’t leaking.

Sauter wins Busch race

Richmond, Va. — Johnny Sauter bumped Matt Kenseth into the wall and out of the way in the final turn Friday night, ending a wild seven-lap shootout and gaining his second career Busch Series victory.

Kenseth had passed Sauter just over two laps from the end coming out of a restart and seemed on his way to victory until the beating and banging finished on the final lap at Richmond International Raceway

Sauter’s Richard Childress Racing teammate Kevin Harvick finished second, also in a Chevrolet, followed by Bobby Hamilton Jr. in a Ford, Brian Vickers in a Chevrolet and new points leader David Green in a Pontiac.

Kenseth wound up sixth.

The race further jumbled the points race, which remains the tightest in series history. The top five drivers are separated by 111 points.

But the finish involved none of the leaders.

Sauter, who started 30th, had passed Harvick and then Kenseth, the Winston Cup points leader, in the final 30 laps and seemed to have the strongest car when the Funai 250 went back to green with seven laps left. But Kenseth pulled even on the outside, and the two battled side-by-side, finally making contact coming out of the fourth turn.