Terry Cook Dover report

DOVER, DE (September 23, 2000) - Terry Cook will remember his first-ever trip to the "Monster Mile" at Dover Downs International Speedway for one reason - he survived. "I guess the best thing I can say is that the truck's still in one piece, and that's something after a race at Dover," said Cook, who piloted his No. 88 PickupTruck.com Chevrolet to a 14th-place finish in his initial appearance at the ultra-tough track. "At the beginning of the race, the truck just would not turn. I can't remember having a truck that was that far off the mark. I don't know if the tires we started on ended up mismatched or what, but boy, at the start, it was a handful. The guys on the team kept working and we finally hit on something. Either that or the track finally came to us, one or the other. Unfortunately, by the time we got the PickupTruck.com Chevy Silverado handling right, we were two laps down. We got to where we were turning lap times right on those of the leaders, but it was too late." Cook started the weekend off on the right foot qualifying his bright orange Chevrolet Silverado in the 11th position turning a lap of 147.965 miles per hour on the one-mile concrete Dover oval. The Sylvania, OH driver then battled his truck's handling problems in the early stages of the 200-lap NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event before a transmission problem made Cook's day even more challenging. Still, Cook, with a solid effort from his PickupTruck.com crew, stuck with it grinding out another Top-15 performance. "Somewhere around the halfway mark, I lost everything but fourth gear," Cook stated. "That just killed us getting in and out of the pits and on re-starts. We were pretty darn good on the long runs towards the end, but all cautions killed us because we'd lose so much on the re-starts and then have to pass everyone back just to get where we left off. Late in the race, we had a shot at a Top-10 finish even with the problems we had. All things considered, I guess a 14th place finish, and having a truck in on piece isn't too bad for the first time at a place like Dover." Cook and his PickupTruck.com mates will next head for Texas Motor Speedway and the O'Reilly Auto Parts 400. The Friday, October 13 event on the 1.5-mile Fort Worth area track is the second to last in the 24-race 2000 NCTS schedule. The event will race past the green flag at 8 P.M. Eastern Time and will be telecast live on ESPN. The race will also be broadcast live by MRN Radio.