FIRE COOKS CHANCES FOR POWER STROKEŽ DIESEL FORD AT VEGAS

A heat resistant mat caught fire spoiling a sure Top-10 run for Terry Cook and relegated the driver of the No. 29 Power Stroke Diesel Ford to a 27th-place finish in the Las Vegas 350 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Sunday.

"I don't know what to do about this bad luck, it's just rotten," said Cook. "We burned a hole through a heat shield on a tailpipe, right underneath the seat. It caught on fire filling the No. 29 Power Stroke Diesel Ford truck with smoke and fumes. I could not see where I was going and we had to bring it in."

"The exhaust got so hot that the heat resistant mat below Terry's seat burned," said crew chief Bob Keselowski. "It's just unfortunate for this team. We've plugged away and worked our hearts out, but for now we'll put it behind us and look ahead to California where we've had success before."

Cook was running in the Top-10 when he reported a vibration. Cook and Keselowski believed a tire was going down, but after short pitting for four tires and a chassis adjustment at Lap 46, the team had an even bigger fire to put out.

"The gremlins bit us again today," said Cook. "I'm going to call it bad luck because we prepare a great race truck each and every week and to have stuff like that happen is just a freak deal. That's three times in a row that we've taken a big hit. We'll shift our focus now to California because I really enjoy Fontana. It's always been good to us, so hopefully we can go out there and contend for the victory because we sure didn't here."

Cook completed 121 of 146 laps and earned $7,015 in prize money for the effort. Cook is now eighth in the NCTS 2002 championship standings, 275 markers out of first. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series returns to action in the American Racing Wheels 200 at California Speedway, Saturday, November 2 at 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The 20th race of the 2002 NCTS tour will be broadcast live on MRN Radio nationwide and telecast on a tape-delayed basis, Sunday, November 3 at 5 p.m. Eastern on ESPN.