Nashville Terry Cook pickuptruck.com race report

NASHVILLE, TN (August 13, 2000) - Terry Cook was looking for a "clutch" performance in the Federated Auto Parts 250 at Nashville Speedway USA Saturday night. Unfortunately for the driver of the #88 PickupTruck.com Chevrolet, the clutch didn't cooperate. "What really hurt tonight is that 75-80 laps into the race we lost the clutch," said Cook, who still managed to finish a very respectable 11th in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event. "That meant that on every pit stop, I'd have to come in and kill the engine. To get back going, I'd have to jam it in first gear and the guys would have to push me off. The PickupTruck.com team did a great job on the stops to not lose any more spots than we did as a result of the clutch problem." Cook started the final NASCAR touring series event on the famed .586-mile Tennessee State Fairgrounds oval from the ninth position after posting a lap of 109.811 miles per hour in qualifying Friday. From the drop of the green flag, Cook and the rest of the 34-truck field had trouble with handling on the old, worn out Nashville racing surface "We struggled a little bit trying to get the truck dialed into the track and never did get it just the way I needed it," said Cook. "We just couldn't get a push out of the truck and as a result I couldn't really get a run at anybody off the corners." Despite the problems, Cook turned in one of his best performances of the season battling his stricken truck and the slippery racing surface. At the checkered flag, the 32-year-old Sylvania, OH native had a hard-earned and well-deserved finish. "I can't remember when I've had to drive as hard as I did tonight to not finish any better than we did," Cook stated. "A lot of trucks were in the same boat we were, off just a little and as a result there were a lot of us racing right there together. We really wanted to get a Top-10 finish and we just did miss it. At least we got a solid finish with a truck that's not damaged. That's what we've got to do the rest of the season. "We have to have solid runs every race and try to put ourselves in a position to win," Cook continued. "If we can't win, we need to be in a position for a solid Top-5 or Top-10 finish. We need to have a good solid stretch run here at the end of the season and finish the year strong." Cook and the rest of the PickupTruck.com crew will now take a weekend off before returning to action in the Sears Craftsman 175 at Chicago Motor Speedway on Sunday, August 27. The race will mark the first-ever visit to the Chicago area for the Craftsman Truck Series. The event will take the green flag at 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time and will be telecast live by ESPN. It will also be broadcast by MRN radio.