Cook Secures Second Consecutive Top-Ten Finish

HAMPTON, Ga. (March 10, 2007) – The 2008 season is off to a great start for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Terry Cook and the No. 60 Wyler Racing Toyota Tundra team as they made it two top-tens in a row Friday night with an eighth-place finish at the fast track of Atlanta Motor Speedway in the American Commercial Lines 200. 

Starting sixth for the 200-mile event, the ever optimistic Cook radioed that his truck was “not bad” as he moved in to the third position on lap three.  The first round of pit stops came on lap 20 after the first caution for a single truck incident.  The Wyler Racing team took advantage of the caution, bringing the No. 60 Wyler.com Toyota Tundra to pit lane for four fresh tires, fuel and a trackbar adjustment.  Cook lined up seventh on the lap 26 restart. 

Cook battled hard throughout the race to stay among the top ten competitors despite battling handling issues.  On lap 58 while running in the sixth position, Cook radioed to crew chief George Church that the truck was “wicked loose” and he did not know how much longer he would be able to hang on to it if a caution did not come out soon.  Church calmed his driver and assured Cook that they would “fix you up when you come in under the next caution.” 

The race would continue under green conditions forcing Cook to make a green flag pit stop on lap 93, which meant he would have to wait longer for adjustments.  Still inside the top ten, Cook came down pit road where the Wyler over-the-wall crew changed four tires, added fuel, went up two rounds on the trackbar and took half a rubber out of the right rear.  Cook returned to the track in the eighth position. 

Caution finally came out on lap 110 with Cook running eighth.  Having just lost a lap to the leader, Cook received the Lucky Dog award during the caution, cycling him back on to the lead lap after pitting.  During the stop the No. 60 Tundra received four tires and fuel as well as adjustments to the trackbar.  Cook restarted eighth as the last truck on the lead lap. 

Over the final 15 laps, Cook struggled to maintain control of the No. 60 Tundra radioing that it was “sliding all over the place and still loose.”  On lap 120, Cook pitted again, this time for fuel and tires.  Rain would stop the race for nearly 15 minutes, and when green flag racing resumed, Cook cruised to an eighth-place finish, his second-consecutive top ten. 

“The No. 60 Wyler.com Tundra was really loose out there tonight,” Cook said.  “We worked as hard as we could to get it handling better, but it was still wicked loose.  Luckily, the cautions came out before anything bad happened.   We had a good day in the points, but we’re still working on getting the team where it needs to be to get our first victory of the season.”

With 22 races left to run, Cook is tied for eleventh place in the driver point’s standings, one point out of tenth place.  After a few weeks off, Cook and the Wyler Racing team will return to racing at Martinsville Speedway on March 29, 2008 for the Kroger 250.  Cook and his Wyler Racing crew will be competing in this upcoming weeks Martinsville test in preparation for the March 29th event.