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TERRY COOK GATEWAY POST-RACE REPORT
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
Date: Saturday, April 30, 2005
Event: Ram Tough 200
Track: Gateway International Raceway, Madison, Ill.
QUALIFYING RESULTS:
1. Ted Musgrave, Dodge, 135.159 mph
2. Jack Sprague, Chevrolet
3. Ron Hornaday Jr., Chevrolet
4. Bill Lester, Toyota
5. David Starr, Chevrolet
11. Terry Cook, Power Stroke Diesel by International Ford, 133.634 mph
RACE RESULTS:
1. Ted Musgrave, Dodge
2. Dennis Setzer, Chevrolet
3. Jimmy Spencer, Dodge
4. Mike Skinner, Toyota
5. Rick Crawford, Ford
23. Terry Cook, Power Stroke Diesel by International Ford
About the Race . . .
Ted Musgrave led all but two laps to take his first win of the 2005 season Saturday night at Gateway International Raceway. Musgrave pulled away from the competition on every restart and only surrendered the lead twice when he entered pit road for four tires and fuel from the teams pit crew. Musgraves win moves him into the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver points standings lead by three over defending series champion, Bobby Hamilton.
Tracking Terry Cook . . .
High hopes and expectations fueled Cook and the Power Stroke Diesel by International race team heading into Gateway International Raceway. Cook, a former winner of the race (2002), tested with the team Monday at Caraway Speedway in Elon, N.C. prior to the April 30th race and after an 11th-place qualifying effort, Cook felt he was in a good position for another top-10 finish.
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COOK GATEWAY POST-RACE REPORT / PAGE 2
Tracking Terry Cook (contd) . . .
An early caution flew on lap three giving Cook the chance to talk to the crew about the handling of the truck. No early problems were reported, however, on the restart, the No. 38 truck (running 10th) expired an engine right in front of Cook. Cook slowed to avoid hitting the truck ahead of him and was hit from behind causing left-rear damage to the truck.
Competitors scrambled for position as Cook took to the outside lane. The incident put Cook back to 15th. Luckily the second caution flag flew and allowed Cook to pit for service.
Cook and Crew Chief, Rick Gay discussed the trucks handling under the caution flag and collectively made several changes to the truck: air pressure, track bar and wedge. Four tires and fuel were added, giving Cook the necessary changes to move back to the front.
Cook restarted in the top 25 and moved one-by-one up the standings with consistent lap times.
When the third caution flew on lap 52, Cook suggested to Gay to pit for fuel and gamble on the race going green the rest of the way. Gay agreed and called Cook to pit road on lap 55.
Cooks prediction was true as the race went green flag for more than 40 laps. With the race heading toward its mid-point, Cook felt the handling of the truck go away, slowing his lap times faster than the leaders.
Cook felt a severe vibration in the right-front just past the 100-lap mark and came to pit road under the green for four tires, fuel and more adjustments while running in the 25th position. When the pit stop was complete, the caution came out, putting Cook two laps down to the leader. From there, Cook went on to finish 23rd and talked about the untimely pit stop:
"Tonight was a disappointing showing for the Power Stroke Diesel by International race team. We started off the race with high hopes. We started to use pit strategy early on but had to pit under the green flag. I felt a vibration in the right-front and didn't want to take a chance at causing a caution. When we pitted and took on four tires, the caution came out just like at California but we were still optimistic to get our laps back but tonight that was not meant to be. We picked up a couple of spots to finish in the top 25 but we came here looking for at least a top-10 finish. Mansfield is next on the schedule and last year we finished third after starting deep in the field. We'll just have to take this Power Stroke Diesel by International Ford to Victory Lane in Mansfield and keep on moving up in the points from there on."
COOK GATEWAY POST-RACE REPORT / PAGE 3
In Other News . . .
NASCAR officials announced the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series year-end awards ceremonies will be held on Sun., Dec. 11 at the Portofino Bay Hotel in Orlando, Fla. The NASCAR Busch Series will hold its awards ceremonies on Fri., Dec. 9 at the same location while the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series will hold its awards ceremonies on Fri., Dec. 2 at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York
POWER STROKE DIESEL BY INTERNATIONAL MOST POPULAR DRIVER AWARD on truckseries.com . . .
truckseries.com continues to log in more and more votes for the Power Stroke Diesel by International Most Popular Driver Award. As of Monday, May 2, more than 47,000 people have voted. Cook moved into the 12th position passing Rick Crawford over the weekend and looks to surpass Robert Pressley with the next NCTS race in Cooks home state of Ohio. Your up-to-date standings are as follow:
1. Steve Park 14681 (31%)
2. Johnny Benson 14643
3. Ricky Craven 4256 (9%)
4. Jimmy Spencer 3678 (8%)
5. David Starr 2034 (4%)
6. Kerry Earnhardt 2021
7. David Reutimann 1233 (3%)
8. Mike Skinner 979 (2%)
9. Brendan Gaughan 780
10. Ron Hornaday Jr. 736
11. Robert Pressley 534 (1%)
12. Terry Cook 442 (1%)
13. Rick Crawford 261
14. Ted Musgrave 234 (0%)
15. Tracy Hines 130
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES DRIVER POINTS STANDINGS:
1. Ted Musgrave 786
2. Bobby Hamilton 783 -3
3. Ricky Craven 748 -38
4. Jimmy Spencer 745 -41
5. Todd Bodine 678 -108
12. Terry Cook 592 -194
NEXT RACE:
Event: UAW-GM Ohio 200, No. 6 of 25
Track: Mansfield Motorsports Speedway
Date: Sunday, May 15
TV: SPEED TV, 2 p.m. EST
RADIO: MRN and XM Satellite Radio, 1:45 p.m. EST
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