Skinner opted for surgery to repair his ACL. He announced the next morning after the accident that he would miss the remainder of the season. In his announcement, he bid farewell to Richard Childress and his team; he also announced that Robby Gordon would replace him again and wished him luck. Robby Gordon finished off the season with an upset victory at New Hampshire. 2002–2017 Skinner signed on to drive the struggling No. 4 Kodak-sponsored Chevy for Morgan-McClure Motorsports in the 2002 season. During the 2001 season, the Morgan-McClure team employed several drivers and had six Top 15 finishes. In 2002, Skinner had a sixth-place finish at Rockingham but only managed three Top 15 finishes while finishing 31st in the final points standings. The team switched to Pontiac for the 2003 season, after Joe Gibbs Racing went to Chevrolet and picked up manufacturer support. Skinner continued to struggle. After failing to qualify for the Sirius 400 at Michigan, Skinner was released after 14 races. Later in the year, he ran four Truck Series races for Billy Ballew Motorsports and returned to the cup series to replace Jerry Nadeau in the No. 01 U.S. Army sponsored car for MBV Motorsports in 11 races. His highlight and lowlight of that car came at a weekend in Richmond, he wrecked his first car in practice after getting loose, Then, after unrolling the backup, earned the pole. After hitting oil in Happy Hour, he had to then go to a third car which was a car that was supposed to run next weekend at Loudon. He continued to run the 01 until Martinsville when Joe Nemechek went to drive the 01 to get ready for his ride in 2003. His final race of the season came at Homestead for Michael Waltrip Racing, driving the 00 Bacardi Chevrolet. In 2004, Skinner returned to the Truck Series to become one of Toyota's main drivers following their entrance of the Tundra in the truck series. Skinner drove the No. 42 Toyota Tundra for Bang! Racing for the first 18 races. He was running ninth in points when conflicts between Toyota and Bang's owners allowed the team to split and run the No. 5 Toyota Tundra for Bill Davis Racing. He won two poles and had two Top 10s in his six races for Bill Davis Racing while finishing 11th in the final points. On the Cup side