Wyler Racing

Accident Leaves Cook 23rd at Bristol
Terry Cook had a tough night in Bristol. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time and was collected when a truck cut a tire. He suffered damage and finished the race 23rd.
Jeff Wyler charity golf returns

Terry Cook No. 60 Wyler.com Toyota Tundra Preview

Round 17 of 25 – Gateway International Raceway: Camping World 200

Terry Cook enters the Camping World 200 searching for momentum to close out the 2008 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season. With one of the tightest points battles in series history from first through tenth, Cook and the Wyler Racing team haven’t given up thoughts of staying in the championship fight. With a previous victory at tracks hosting the next two series races – Gateway International Raceway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway – Cook is ready to start the countdown to Homestead on the right foot.

What do you remember about your win at Gateway in 2002? “I was really sick the week leading up to the race. I had a sinus infection and had to spend some time in the hospital getting some fluids on Wednesday. I remember come race day it was hot and sticky – typical for St. Louis. We had a great truck that day but all I can remember about the last ten laps is how miserable I was. It was a good thing we had such a big lead because I about wrecked it a couple of times. I wouldn’t have wanted to have been racing someone as bad as I was feeling. But I was able to hold on and get that thing to victory lane in one piece. It was my second win but it had been almost four years since the first one. I wasn’t as nervous as I was in the final laps at Flemington when I won my first race, but I sure did want to get it over just as bad.”

Are you optimistic this weekend? “I always say you are as good as your last race. At Bristol we were in the wrong place in the wrong time and got wrecked. We finished 23rd but I know we were better than that. So yes, I am optimistic. You try to focus on the next race. You can’t fix what happened the previous week. You look at what you did right and try to use that to build on what you’re doing this week. You analyze what went wrong and make sure you don’t put yourself in that position again. You try to forget about the bad finish and move on. Just like when we started off the season at Daytona – we qualified great and ran up front and then got taken out by someone else’s mistake. We put that out of our minds and went to Fontana and finished fourth. We need to do the same thing this weekend at Gateway. We’ll put Bristol out of our minds and go to Gateway and do our best to get back into the top-five where we belong.”

What does it take to succeed at Gateway? “You need the complete package. If you are down on horsepower or handling you are going to struggle. The straightaways are so long that any horsepower deficiency will be obvious right away. The corners are flat and both are different at each end of the track so handling is critical too. If you are missing the slightest bit in either department you’re probably not going to have a chance to run up front.”

Labor Day weekend always signals the end of summer and the start to the final stretch to the championship. Where does this team stand right now? Can you contend for a top-five finish in the final standings? “I have said it all season long: this is a top-five caliber team. We should be running in the top-five every week. We’ve gone testing a couple of times recently and learned a lot that will help our team in the long run. In the short term we need to get up front. That’s been our goal all season long and it hasn’t changed. We need to lead some laps – our goal has been to lead 20 laps every week. If we can do that then we know we will be in contention to win races and collect some top-five finishes. As for the points, I would say it’s very realistic to finish in the top-five. If we accomplish our goals, we’ll be challenging for wins and getting good finishes every week and the points will take care of themselves. I can’t remember a season when it’s been so close not only for the top but all the way through the top-ten. Right now no one seems to want to lead. Every time someone gets the points lead something happens and they lose it. You never know what could happen. If we keep working hard and get on a streak we could get ourselves in position to get up there and fight for the championship. It doesn’t matter if you’re leading now. You want to lead after Homestead. We aren’t going to give up on the championship until we are mathematically out of it, and then we’ll focus on doing the very best we can. We want to get up into the top-five.”

This week’s truck: Terry will be racing chassis No. 120 this weekend. It was shaken down during a two-day test last week at Richmond International Raceway and was raced previously this season at Kentucky Speedway.

Terry’s Gateway Stats: Terry has made ten career starts at Gateway International Raceway with one win (2002), two top-five finishes, and five top-ten finishes. He has completed 1497 of a possible 1614 competition laps (92.8%). He led 59 laps en route to his 2002 win. His average start is 9.0, and he has started among the top four a total of four times (second in 2001, third in 2007, and fourth in 1999 and 2000). His average finish is 14.4. He was running among the top three last year when engine failure sidelined him after just 65 laps.


Stratosphere Hotel - The official hotel of Wyler Racing in Las Vegas
	Accident Leaves Cook 23rd at Bristol Terry Cook had a tough night in Bristol. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time and was collected when a truck cut a tire. He suffered damage and finished the race 23rd. Jeff Wyler charity golf returns Terry Cook No. 60 Wyler.com Toyota Tundra Preview Round 17 of 25 – Gateway International Raceway: Camping World 200 Terry Cook enters the Camping World 200 searching for momentum to close out the 2008 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season. With one of the tightest points battles in series history from first through tenth, Cook and the Wyler Racing team haven’t given up thoughts of staying in the championship fight. With a previous victory at tracks hosting the next two series races – Gateway International Raceway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway – Cook is ready to start the countdown to Homestead on the right foot. What do you remember about your win at Gateway in 2002? “I was really sick the week leading up to the race. I had a sinus infection and had to spend some time in the hospital getting some fluids on Wednesday. I remember come race day it was hot and sticky – typical for St. Louis. We had a great truck that day but all I can remember about the last ten laps is how miserable I was. It was a good thing we had such a big lead because I about wrecked it a couple of times. I wouldn’t have wanted to have been racing someone as bad as I was feeling. But I was able to hold on and get that thing to victory lane in one piece. It was my second win but it had been almost four years since the first one. I wasn’t as nervous as I was in the final laps at Flemington when I won my first race, but I sure did want to get it over just as bad.” Are you optimistic this weekend? “I always say you are as good as your last race. At Bristol we were in the wrong place in the wrong time and got wrecked. We finished 23rd but I know we were better than that. So yes, I am optimistic. You try to focus on the next race. You can’t fix what happened the previous week. You look at what you did right and try to use that to build on what you’re doing this week. You analyze what went wrong and make sure you don’t put yourself in that position again. You try to forget about the bad finish and move on. Just like when we started off the season at Daytona – we qualified great and ran up front and then got taken out by someone else’s mistake. We put that out of our minds and went to Fontana and finished fourth. We need to do the same thing this weekend at Gateway. We’ll put Bristol out of our minds and go to Gateway and do our best to get back into the top-five where we belong.” What does it take to succeed at Gateway? “You need the complete package. If you are down on horsepower or handling you are going to struggle. The straightaways are so long that any horsepower deficiency will be obvious right away. The corners are flat and both are different at each end of the track so handling is critical too. If you are missing the slightest bit in either department you’re probably not going to have a chance to run up front.” Labor Day weekend always signals the end of summer and the start to the final stretch to the championship. Where does this team stand right now? Can you contend for a top-five finish in the final standings? “I have said it all season long: this is a top-five caliber team. We should be running in the top-five every week. We’ve gone testing a couple of times recently and learned a lot that will help our team in the long run. In the short term we need to get up front. That’s been our goal all season long and it hasn’t changed. We need to lead some laps – our goal has been to lead 20 laps every week. If we can do that then we know we will be in contention to win races and collect some top-five finishes. As for the points, I would say it’s very realistic to finish in the top-five. If we accomplish our goals, we’ll be challenging for wins and getting good finishes every week and the points will take care of themselves. I can’t remember a season when it’s been so close not only for the top but all the way through the top-ten. Right now no one seems to want to lead. Every time someone gets the points lead something happens and they lose it. You never know what could happen. If we keep working hard and get on a streak we could get ourselves in position to get up there and fight for the championship. It doesn’t matter if you’re leading now. You want to lead after Homestead. We aren’t going to give up on the championship until we are mathematically out of it, and then we’ll focus on doing the very best we can. We want to get up into the top-five.” This week’s truck: Terry will be racing chassis No. 120 this weekend. It was shaken down during a two-day test last week at Richmond International Raceway and was raced previously this season at Kentucky Speedway. Terry’s Gateway Stats: Terry has made ten career starts at Gateway International Raceway with one win (2002), two top-five finishes, and five top-ten finishes. He has completed 1497 of a possible 1614 competition laps (92.8%). He led 59 laps en route to his 2002 win. His average start is 9.0, and he has started among the top four a total of four times (second in 2001, third in 2007, and fourth in 1999 and 2000). His average finish is 14.4. He was running among the top three last year when engine failure sidelined him after just 65 laps.