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Cook heads for Texas

FORT WORTH, TX (Oct. 9, 2000) - Wheeling a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series racer at more than 190 miles per hour is, at the very least, an attention getter. For Terry Cook, driver of the No. 88 PickupTruck.com Chevrolet Silverado, it also ...

FORT WORTH, TX (Oct. 9, 2000) - Wheeling a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series racer at more than 190 miles per hour is, at the very least, an attention getter. For Terry Cook, driver of the No. 88 PickupTruck.com Chevrolet Silverado, it also commands a high degree of respect for the racetrack. "Texas is a little intimidating the first time you go there," Cook stated. "It's a track where you run wide open in qualifying trim. You can probably do the same during the first couple of laps while the tires are still fresh. Even when the tires do fall off a little bit, you're only off the throttle for a split second in the corners. Texas is just a very fast, fast speedway and you have to respect that speed. You're running darn close to 200 miles per hour. That gets your attention and your respect pretty quick." Cook has had his share of ups and downs at the 1.5-mile Fort Worth oval. Heading into the October 13 O'Reilly 400 NCTS event, Cook would like nothing better than to best the 19th-place finish he posted in the Pronto Auto Parts 400 at the Texas track last June. "We qualified just outside the Top-10 for the spring race at Texas and quite frankly, we were disappointed with that," said Cook. "We felt we had a Top-5 truck from the time we took it off the transporter. Unfortunately, we had some engine problems during our qualifying run and that relegated us to a Top-10 effort. "We got that corrected and were one of the top three trucks in Happy Hour," Cook continued. "Our PickupTruck.com Chevy Silverado drafted well and was an awesome piece. During the race, we had a miscue on a pit stop that put us back in the pack and one of the drivers that got by us on pit road panicked when we came up on a spin. He turned hard into us while we were going through the smokescreen and that pretty much killed our chances of a good finish. It was just one of those 'racin' deals', but it put us in a position where we were just riding out the rest of the day for points instead of contending for the win." While the spring race at Texas turned out to be a disappointment for the Sylvania, OH, last year's O'Reilly 400 proved to be a high point for the driver of the No. 88 PickupTruck.com mount. "The fall race at Texas last year was probably our best race of the year," said Cook. "It wasn't our best result - we finished sixth - but it was our best on track performance. We led 20-30 laps, had a great truck and good pit stops. We're taking that same truck back to Texas this time around, so we're excited about the possibilities." Additionally, some new rules changes enacted by NASCAR for this event has Cook even more optimistic. "We had some aerodynamic rule changes for this race that should make the Chevrolets more competitive this time," said Cook. "Even with the rules disadvantage the last couple of times, we've still been pretty good at Texas. I'm thinking with the new rules, we have a chance to contend for a Top-5 finish and even a win. That would be a great way for us to close out the season. We're going in expecting nothing less than a Top-5 qualifying and a Top-5 finishing effort." The Friday, October 13 O'Reilly Auto Parts 400 will take the green flag at Texas Motor Speedway at 8 P.M. Eastern Time and will be telecast live on ESPN. The event will also be broadcast as it happens on MRN radio.

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