Terry Cook: Coming to a Victory Lane Near You

Written by Arianne Hegeman
July 12, 2007
10:42pm

Just like the series’ title sponsor, the drivers who compete in the Craftsman Truck Series are known for their toughness and durability. Beating and banging is a way of life, not a last ditch effort saved for the last lap of therace. Terry Cook is one of those drivers, a veteran who has achieved success and earned respect in an ultra-competitive series. His resolve has earned him a spot as one of NASCAR’s more consistent talents with over 200 consecutive starts, 92 top tens, 26 top fives, 8 poles, and 6 wins within a single decade. But there is more to Cook than pre-race interviews, pit stops, and victory laps. Terry Cook is one of the more interesting personalities within the Craftsman Truck circuit.
 
Cook is a Sylvania, Ohio native, married with two children, and comfortably outspoken about who he is and where he is today. In the early 70’s, his dad raced throughout Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Kentucky. Cook got more than just the racing bug from his father: the experience of growing up around racetracks helped mold Terry into the fun-loving, well-mannered guy who now drives the #59 Toyota Tundra in one of the most popular racing series in the world. “As a normal kid, my parents never had to worry about me growing up, never getting into trouble. Wait… let me back up; they never had to worry about where we were or if we were hanging out with the wrong kids. Everybody was together at the track on the weekends; we might have been squirting ketchup bottles up in the grandstands, but my parents knew where we were. I actually credit racing for curving my path and making me who I am today. It taught me right from wrong, a good work ethic and to stay away from things like drugs and drinking. When I was growing up, racing gave me something to focus on.”

His parents considered racing a privilege that would be there as long as the other things in his life were in place. Academic success was important. Terry learned this at an early age. “Somewhere around the seventh or eight grade I came home with an unfavorable report card that week. My dad told me if I didn’t get my grades up, then I wasn’t going to race. That just devastated me. I told myself that that wasn’t going to happen. For me to not go to the races was like taking a kid’s cell phone away today. I brought my grades up and I got to go to the races.” Because of lessons like that, Terry Cook believes that if every kid had an interest like racing, their parents would have an easier time guiding them towards the right and away from the wrong.

Cook’s solid upbringing undeniably provided the roots for his current Ironman status. Throughout the years, he has enjoyed competing in over 200 consecutive Craftsman Truck Series starts. Those years have brought a ton of ups and downs, but along the way Cook has learned the secret of staying focused and not letting the bad times overwhelm him or his race team. “You have to focus on your own team; don’t worry about your neighbor. You can’t control what other people are doing but I can control my own destiny.” His own words ring true now that Cook and his Harris Trucking race team is starting from scratch. “This is a new race team, new driver, crew chief, and manufacturer. It’s taken us a little longer to get going than what we would have liked. We’re seeing the progression, moving towards the front. Right now, we come to the race track, trying to win races, trying to do the best we can, but the reality is that we need to find the consistency and that will escalate into running top fives every week and if we can start doing that on a weekly basis, the wins will come. It’s a building process and if we can continue that trend we’ll be just fine for the rest of the season.”
 
The building process can be slow at times and is often a tedious task. The benefit of working with Danny Rollins, who won a truck championship with the late Bobby Hamilton in 2004, is immeasurable for Cook. “It’s a joy to work with him. We have the same temperament, the same attitude. I couldn’t be any happier from that respect.” One particular thing would make Terry Cook even happier. Just a few changes to the current Craftsman Truck Series schedule would suffice. “It’s bittersweet. You hear the Cup guys complain that they race too much but then here I am on my weekends off, wanting to race. I enjoy spending the weekends at home with my family but I think if we had six more races and the Cup guys had six less, it’d be perfect.”

Unlike most NASCAR race teams, HT Motorsports is based out of Martinsville, Virginia, which is a two hour drive from Charlotte. “I still live in Mooresville, North Carolina. I drive to the race shop about once a week. We’ve got a lot of great guys on the team; everybody brings something different to the table. The problem we have is that we don’t have a lot of guys who have a lot of experience with this type of racing, in a national series.” Cook is honest when he admits that the team has made their share of mistakes. He also knows that the team is heading in the right direction. “We work hard trying to address the issues where we need to improve. But no matter who you are, whether you are on top like Jeff Gordon or Jimmie Johnson, you still come back from the racetrack wondering how you can improve your race team. Every team has a list of improvements. The only difference is that their list is about one half of a page long, ours is about three pages long.”

It appears that the HT Motorsports “pages of improvement” may be a bit shorter than it was a few weeks ago. The Harris Trucking Toyota Tundra race team sits 13th in points and is geared up for a steady pace of improvement. Just recently, on June 16th, 2007, Terry Cook celebrated his 250th start in the Craftsman Truck Series. Cook’s unique combination of experience and determination coupled with Danny Rollins’ record of success will surely put the Harris Trucking Toyota in victory lane sooner rather than later. Most likely, it will occur on one of those uniquely challenging race tracks that offer nothing but side-by-side racing. Just the way Terry Cook likes it.

For more information on Terry Cook, visit  www.terrycook.com or www.htmotorsports.com

                                                            
Terry Cook at Dover International Speedway                                                     Terry Cook being interviewed by Arianne Hegeman
Credit: S. Woodington                                                                                         Credit: S. Woodington