Terry Cook Looking to Lead Ford Power Stroke® Diesel by International® Team To Front of Field at Lowe’s Motor Speedway

(MOORESVILLE, N.C.) – ppc Racing driver Terry Cook is coming off a third-place finish in the No. 10 Ford Power Stroke Diesel by International truck heading into Friday night’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.  Cook, who started off the season with a pole position and a fifth-place finish at Daytona International Speedway, is in the top 10 driver points standings and is thrilled about competing near the team’s headquarters in Mooresville, N.C.

“It’s prestigious to have a race at Charlotte,” said Cook, who earned a top-15 finish at Lowe’s Motor Speedway last year.  “Race fans in the Charlotte area got a taste of truck racing last year and I think they’re going to come back in bigger crowds.  This is the hub of NASCAR Racing.  I’m sure we’re going to put on a good show for the race fans.  I personally love night racing and going fast on the big tracks.  I think it’s some of the best racing because the track is more suited to the trucks.  The track is temperature sensitive in the cup event when they start in the early evening and end late at night so they’re constantly chasing the setup, whereas our race starts and ends at night.  The track will virtually never change other than rubber build-up from racing 200 miles.”

Cook is no stranger to the one-and-a-half-mile race tracks.  He has 27 starts and 12, top-10 finishes entering his ninth season of competition.  Race fans at tracks like Kentucky and Texas Motor Speedways have seen Cook take the Ford Power Stroke Diesel by International truck to the front but Cook’s third-place finish last weekend was at a short track in his home state of Ohio.

“It was a big deal for us to get a top five and run where we know we’re capable of running each week,” said Cook, a five-time winner in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.  “This is without a doubt the best equipment, the best team I’ve ever been with in my entire racing career.  ppc Racing is a championship-caliber program and we took the first steps to prove that at Daytona, finishing in the top five.  The last two races have been utter disappointments.  Finishing third at Mansfield definitely turned our 2004 season around.”

“It was exciting and the most fun in the spotter’s stand I’ve had in two years,” said Keith Barnwell, Co-Owner and General Manager at ppc Racing.  “To go to Mansfield and make it into the show was a huge accomplishment for ppc Racing because we made it through the first four races based on 2003 (owner) points.  Now we head to Charlotte based on the 2004 points. Terry drove his tail off to get to the front last weekend and Wes made a great call in the pits.  We were in-and-out on the pit road; a great pit stop by the guys.  The finish speaks volumes for the Ford Power Stroke Diesel by International race team.  We’re going to Charlotte Friday night and accepting nothing less than a top 10, hopefully a top five but with a little luck, we’ll win the race.”

Based in Mooresville, N.C., ppc Racing enters its first season of competition in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with driver Terry Cook and the No. 10 Power Stroke Diesel Ford.  ppc Racing continues its competition in the NASCAR Busch Series, its fifth season, with driver Jason Keller in the No. 22 Miller High Life Ford Taurus.  With co-owners Greg Pollex and Keith Barnwell, ppc Racing earned the 2000 NASCAR Busch Series championship and has scored 27 wins and more than 150 top-five finishes as it enters the 2004 season.