Cook's NCTS Season Finishes As It Started

In a year where Lady Luck rarely rode with Terry Cook, the fates again played a dirty trick on the veteran driver in the final NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race of the season at Homestead Miami Speedway last weekend.

“We had one of the fastest trucks on the track, but we pitted under green and the caution came out almost immediately afterward,” said Cook, who finished 20th in the NCTS season finale. “That’s pretty much been our luck most of the season. If there was bad luck to be had, it almost always seemed to find us.”

Cook’s season in the HT Motorsports Toyota Tundra started off in blazing fashion – literally. Running in the Top-10 in the 2007 Truck Series opening event at Daytona, contact from behind slammed Cook’s mount into the wall where it erupted in a huge fireball. Fortunately, the Sylvana, OH driver wasn't hurt, but the wreck may have set the tone for a season of solid runs to be short-circuited by circumstances outside of his control.

“Little did we know that Daytona was going to write the script for the season to come,” said Cook. “I don't remember where I ever had as much misfortune as I had in this season. It felt like there was a black cloud following us from race to race at times. There were some rays of sunshine and bright moments, but for the most part, it was a season of bad luck that we were never able to shake.”

Later in the year, Cook saw top runs go by the boards thanks to a number of ill-fated problems. An almost certain Top-5 and potential win fell by the wayside at Gateway International when his engine failed while running second late in the race.

After leading the most laps at Martinsville, contact – again from behind – put Cook in the wall and out of contention. Another wreck while running in the Top-10 – this one the ‘Big One’ at Talladega - sidelined the HT Motorsports driver.

In the end, the season proved to be a string of ‘what ifs’ for Cook and his team led by crew chief Danny Rollins.

“You can always look back and say it should, could would,” said Cook. “You can say that if things had gone differently, you would have won a bunch of races - you'd have caught the big fish and gotten him in the boat. There were just so many races this season that were like that.”

That’s not to say that Cook still didn’t have his share of highlights. A fourth-place finish at Las Vegas proved to be the team’s best effort with additional Top-10 efforts at Kansas, Dover and Atlanta filling out the list of season accomplishments.

At season's end, Cook finished 14th in the final 2007 NCTS driver standings marking the eighth time in the last nine years he has completed the Truck Series campaign in the Top-15 in points.

Cook also completed 91 percent of the laps run (3,713 of 4,073) leading 110 circuits – the ninth-straight year he has paced at least one Truck Series event.

“We did have some bright spots, some rainbows that broke through the black clouds this season,” Cook stated. “One real bright spot was working with Toyota and the great folks at Triad (TRD). You quickly realize why they are the caliber of program they are and why they are the two-time and defending Manufacturer’s Champion in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. They swept the most wins and poles again this season.

"It was also great to make friends and work with some excellent people at HT Motorsports. We had some good moments. Unfortunately, we just didn’t have as many as we wanted to or deserved.”

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