Cook, HT Motorsports Come Home 21st In Phoenix NCTS Race

The Casino Arizona 150 proved to be anything but a winner for Terry Cook and HT Motorsports as they struggled to a 21st-place finish in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event at Phoenix International Raceway Friday.

Contact with another truck on a restart inflicted heavy damage to the nose and front splitter of Cook’s No. 59 Vanguard National Trailer Corporation Toyota Tundra making it all but impossible to drive in the 150-lap event.

“The whole field checked up in front of me,” said Cook. “The truck in front of me slid the tires and I slid my tires. Then I got jacked up by another truck in back of me and that shoved me right into the back of the truck in front of me. That bent up the splitter and the splitter braces and our fate was sealed for the rest of the night.”

Even without the damage, Cook’s Toyota proved to be a handful as the team had trouble finding the right chassis combination in Thursday’s practice where they eventually posted the 12th best time of the final session. Starting 18th in the 36 truck field after Friday’s qualifying session, Cook managed to work his way up to just outside the Top-10 before getting caught up in a chain reaction ‘bump up’ on a Lap 26 restart.

“We were pretty excited at the drop of the green flag because we went right from 18th up to the Top-10,” said Cook. “We were passing inside and outside and I thought we had a truck that with a few adjustments could easily drive into the Top-5 and maybe contend for the win.

“Then we got into that mess on the restart,” Cook continued. “These trucks are so sensitive that if the splitter isn’t within a half an inch of the racing surface at all times, they become extremely tight. At times, it didn’t even feel like the front tires were on the ground.”

Now faced with repairing the damage to the front of his HT Motorsports Toyota, Cook began a series of pit stops slowing for repairs multiple times during an ensuing caution. Back at the tail end of the field, Cook and crew chief Danny Rollins later rolled the dice staying out on a later caution to move all the way up to the third position.

While the strategy got Cook to the front, he didn’t stay there for long as his wounded racer was no match for the rest of the field. Eventually, he would pit again, fall to the back of the pack, and race his way back to a 21st-place finish at the checkered flag.

“We were working on a lot older tires than the trucks behind us,” said Cook. “Unfortunately, with that and the damage we had to the front of the truck, we just couldn’t keep up. Our truck just wouldn’t turn and we were getting driven around almost every lap. The whole truck and its suspension dynamics are designed to work with the attitude of the truck and when you have the front splitter torn up, you’re not achieving the front downforce or overall shear grip on the racetrack. You lose both aero and mechanical grip.

“We came in and put tires on to regain some of the mechanical grip, but track position was so big that, along with our aero problems, it was hard to pass somebody. We eventually did get some positions back, but it wasn’t enough to give us a satisfying finish.”

Cook will close out the 2007 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season this Friday, November 16 with the Ford 200 at Homestead Miami Speedway. The event will be telecast live on SPEED at 8 p.m. Eastern Time and broadcast worldwide on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio.

For more information about HT Motorsports, please log on to www.htmotorsports.com.