COOK, POWER STROKE® DIESEL FORD SURVIVE CLOSE CALLS AT KANSAS

Terry Cook managed to steer clear of a couple of close calls and guide his No. 29 Power Stroke® Diesel Ford to a sixth-place finish in the O'Reilly 250 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series eventat Kansas Speedway Saturday. Cook, who was coming off a win in the most recent NCTS event at Milwaukee, WI, had Lady Luck at his side on a late restart that eventually scrambled the final standings.

"We played our cards right with a great restart for the final six-lap shoot out, but we got into some oil when Rick Crawford's truck had a problem sending my Power Stroke Diesel Ford into the wall," said Cook. "We had moved into the Top-5 and might have had a Top-3 finish out of the deal, but I'm thankful for a sixth-place finish after that. We salvaged another Top-10finish and maintained sixth in the point standings after a wild ride, so I have to be pleased with that."

Cook's day got off to a rocky start on the third circuit when he drove three-wide into the Turn 1 with Bill Lester and Dennis Setzer. Cook ran out of room in the low groove and made contact with Lester's truck sending both machines into a spin.

"It was just an aero deal," said Cook. "I was at the bottom of a three-wide situation getting into the corner and the air was taken off my rear spoiler. I got pinched down quite heavily and unfortunately just went around. Thank goodness we were able to keep the Power Stroke Diesel Ford off the wall."

Cook had to pit out of sequence with the rest of the field to replace four tires after the incident. Now 27th and at the tail end of the lead lap, the Power Stroke Diesel driver quickly darted through the pack finding his way to third place by Lap 53.

A four-tire pit stop, this one on Lap 107 of the 167-lap event, had Cook in the eighth spot and ready to charge to the front at the finish. The Indianapolis, IN resident had another close call when Brendan Gaughan and Travis Kvapil got together, narrowly missing the wreck just seven circuits later. Cook then broke back into the Top-5 with five laps remaining. That set up the final restart where the three-time NCTS winner couldn't avoid the fluid from Crawford's truck.

"I'm not sure what happened to Crawford, but unfortunately there was oil all over the track," said Cook. "I had a shot at picking up another position or two. There was just oil everywhere and I got into it which caused us to brush up against the wall. It's pretty disappointing, but it could have been a lot worse. We'll take sixth and move on to Kentucky."

Cook's solid effort earned him $13,750 and maintained his sixth-place position in the 2002 NCTS championship standings, 139 markers out of first. Cook and his No. 29 Power Stroke Diesel Ford will take the green flag in the Kroger 225, Saturday, July 13 at Kentucky Speedway. The event will be telecast by ESPN and broadcast live on MRN Radio at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.