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Terry Cook
Advance News and Notes
Kroger 250
Martinsville Speedway
Race No. 3 of 25
About Terry Cook, driver, No. 10 Power Stroke Diesel Ford . . .
- Making 168th career start in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, 150th consecutive
- Cook’s performance at Martinsville Speedway (Spring Event):
Year Start Finish Make of Truck Laps Completed Reason Out
2003 16 9 Ford 250 / 250 Running
2002 7 5 Ford 250 / 250 Running2
2001 6 3 Ford 250 / 250 Running
2000 9 30 Chevrolet 234 / 250 Running1
1999 28 25 Chevrolet 239 / 250 Running
1998 21 22 Chevrolet 237 / 250 Running
1 - led six laps (69-73 and 164) 2 - led 76 laps (132-207)
- Average Start / Finish at Martinsville: 15.7 / 14.5
- Percentage of Laps Completed at Martinsville – 98.4 (1476 of 1500 laps)
- Ninth season as a driver, fourth with sponsor Power Stroke® Diesel
- Won pole position at Daytona International Speedway in first 2004 event with ppc Racing; led 12 laps and finished fifth
- Making appearance on Saturday, April 17th at the Martinsville, Va. Winn-Dixie starting at 9:00 a.m. with the Paws With A Cause® Simulator
- Technical Overload – Cook has led lap 164 the past two even years
Terry Cook on leading at a short track like Martinsville . . .
“Whether it’s a short track or superspeedway, you always want to lead. To be in the lead is a benefit and even at Martinsville because the guys behind you have to figure out how to pass you and it’s extremely hard to do that there. As the leader you are more likely able to pick and choose your way through lapped traffic. You can study them and see the line the guy ahead of you is running. When you’re running second, you’re probably working the brakes even harder to drive around the guy that is leading the race. Even when you are in the lead, you can save your equipment for the last bit of the race to win.”
Fred Wanke, Crew Chief on Testing Between Races . . .
“Every time we test, we learn something, whether it’s good or bad. Texas (Motor Speedway) was a positive test as well as at Greenville-Pickens (Speedway). We’re actually going to test there again to fix some of the things we feel can make this truck better for Terry. Any time you test, even if you have a bad test and run slow, you learn things, go home and fix them so it makes it a good test. You never have a bad test.”
Fred Wanke on Short Tracks versus Intermediate and Superspeedways . . .
“I used to run better at the short tracks. In 1997, when I was with (Darrell) Waltrip’s truck deal, we won three races; Portland, Monroe and Martinsville. With Jimmy Hensley the following year, we won Nashville and Martinsville again. In 2000, with Joe Ruttman, we won at IRP (Indianapolis Raceway Park). None of these wins I believe were on a track greater than a half mile. I began to wonder if I’d win on a big track but we won with Ted (Musgrave) at Homestead in 2001, which was a one-and-a-half mile, Las Vegas, one-and-a-half, and California, a two-mile track. Now I guess I like the bigger tracks better than the short tracks.”
Keith Barnwell, Co-Owner and General Manager on the addition of Fuge Jr. . . .
“Dave Fuge and Fred Wanke bring a lot of wins and a lot of experience to ppc Racing in the truck series that we don’t have. We talked about a lot of people for the position and there a quite a few people available. Dave’s won a championship and many races. He’s kind of like Fred; he’s won a bunch of truck races. Anytime you can bring people on board that have been to Victory Lane is good. We’re glad to have him at ppc Racing.”
About the No. 10 ppc Racing Power Stroke Diesel Ford . . .
The No .10 Power Stroke Diesel Ford F-150 competing this weekend is a brand new truck built for Martinsville. Its name, Truck No. 10-04, was tested at Greenville-Pickens (S.C.) Speedway last week. It is the fourth of five trucks among the ppc Racing fleet and third built by Body Dynamics.
The ppc Racing crew on . . .
The Benefits of Testing Between Races . . .
“The test sessions help the whole team all together. We’re a brand new team. Testing at Texas and Greenville let Terry get a little more comfortable with the truck. We’re learning what each of us can do at the track.”
Ben Chase, Jackman
“We’re learning what Terry wants out of the truck. Turns three and four at Greenville are a carbon copy to Martinsville so it was worth going to test there. It was a good test.”
Steve Poniatowski, Front Tire Changer
“Testing helps out a lot with the new team and equipment we have. We’re learning what each other can do as a team. When we go to the track, we’re working as a team.”
Ron Denton, Engineer
Race Information
Event Name: Kroger 250 @ Martinsville Speedway
Date & Time: Saturday, April 17th @ 1:00 p.m. EST
Television: SPEED Channel at 1:00 p.m. EST LIVE
Radio: MRN and XM Satellite Radio at 12:45 p.m. EST LIVE
Race Laps / Miles: 250 / 131.5
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