If Mike Skinner’s NASCAR career ends the way it started, he has no problem with that.

Skinner, who won the inaugural NASCAR Truck Series championship in 1995, came close to retiring last season after a whirlwind career in Trucks, Busch and Nextel Cup.

Instead, talked into signing another three-year contract by team owner Bill Davis, Skinner began this season on a streak rivaling that of Jeff Gordon in Cup. Through five races, Skinner has three wins and no finish lower than fifth heading into Friday night’s Quaker Steak & Lube 200 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.

The native of Ontario, Calif., who turns 50 in June, holds a 108-point advantage over last season’s Truck series champion, Todd Bodine, and relishes the chance to add a second series championship to his resume.

“Toward the end of last season, I was seriously considering retiring. I’ve had a good career, but I thought maybe it was time to step back,” Skinner said.

“Then, Bill came to me and asked me about signing one more three-year deal. I talked to Angie (his wife) about it. We ultimately decided to do it. Each week I feel like I am getting into a truck with a chance to win – it’s hard to turn that down.”

With the increasing number of Cup teams in recent years, Skinner, a one-time teammate of the late Dale Earnhardt while both drove at Richard Childress Racing, said he’s been approached about returning to NASCAR’s biggest series.

“Richard Childress told me when I first started in Trucks that when you’re winning in this sport, things are pretty easy. You find out what kind of person you are when things are tough. He was right,” Skinner said.

“Winning heals a lot of wounds in racing. I didn’t want to go to a Cup program where the biggest achievement of the weekend was making the race.

“Granted, the money would be pretty good. But winning races and contending for championships – that’s what I want. If I could end my career with another Truck championship, it would be the biggest thing ever.”

Skinner’s racing career got off to a late start as he didn’t get into a race car until he was 19 years old – probably 10 years older than some of the sport’s new newcomers.

He moved from California to North Carolina in hopes of breaking into NASCAR. When he was 28, he got his first opportunity to drive a Cup race at Martinsville, Va., in 1986 with the Zanworth Racing Team. It took another nine years for Skinner to get a full-time ride, when he was hired in 1995 to drive for RCR in the Truck series’ start-up season.

Skinner won the 1995 title and amassed 16 wins in two seasons before he moved to RCR’s No. 31 Chevrolet in Cup and became teammates with Earnhardt.

His Cup career became a collection of near-misses, as he failed to earn a victory in a points race, but did win a qualifying race at Daytona and exhibition races in Japan. His best finish came in April 2000 when he finished second to Gordon at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

Skinner left RCR in late 2001, and after stints with Morgan-McClure Motorsports and MB2 Motorsports (now Ginn Racing), ended up back in the Truck series in 2004 with Toyota’s debut in the sport. He has flourished since his return, first with team owner Alex Meshkin and now with Bill Davis Racing.

“At some point I guess I’m going to have to figure out what I’m going to do when I grow up,” Skinner said. “Right now, I’m enjoying what Bill Davis and Toyota are giving me the chance to do each week. I’m having too much fun.”