Ford PSD by Int'l Advance Notes - Martinsville I
Contact: Jeffrey Sturek*, Ford Power Stroke Diesel by International Racing, (704) 450-9060, jeffrey@gperformance.com *Please note the ppc Racing Media Web site has audio, text and photography available at www.ppcracing.com/media. Terry Cook No. 10 Ford Power Stroke Diesel by International Kroger 250 / Martinsville Speedway - Saturday, April 1, 2006 PAST HISTORY INDICATORS OF SUCCESS AT MARTINSVILLE: ~ Two, top-10 finishes in last four NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races (NCTS) at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. Saturday marks the fifth NCTS race for the Ford Power Stroke Diesel by International race team with ppc Racing, the 2000 NASCAR Busch Series championship team ~ Driver Terry Cook has five, top-10 finishes at the .526-mile short track with an average finish of 15.0 ~ Crew Chief, Dennis Connor has too seen his success at Martinsville Speedway with five, top-10 finishes in seven races as a crew chief ~ Cook makes his 201st-consecutive NCTS start Saturday. Cook will surpass Rick Crawford's all-time consecutive streak of 209 later this year at Kentucky Speedway in the Built Ford Tough 225 ~ New to the Team in 2006: Dennis Connor is the team's crew chief. He has three NCTS championships to his name (1997, '99 and 2001) and twice was runner-up (1996, '98). Tony Hirschman III (spotter) is the son of five-time NASCAR Whelen Modified champion, Tony Sr. Hirschman has spotted since 1994 in modifieds, open-wheel and stock car racing. 2006 marks his first year spotting in the NCTS. Finally, Nicole Addison (rear tire changer) is the only female over-the-wall crew member in NASCAR's top-three divisions. This is her first year with ppc Racing ~ Local Angle: Ken Majors, engine tuner, is from Durham, N.C., and enters his third year with the No. 10 Ford Power Stroke Diesel by International race team COOK AT MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY: DATE START FINISH STATUS EARNINGS 04/09/05 13 10 Running $11,875 10/22/05 26 7 Running $ 9,500 04/17/04 31 22 Running $ 7,140 10/23/04 17 13 Running $ 8,615 04/12/03 16 9 Running $ 9,950 10/18/03 19 19 Running $ 8,115 04/13/02 7 5 Running $11,500 04/07/01 6 3 Running $18,190 04/10/00 9 30 Running $ 7,590 04/17/99 28 25 Running $ 5,015 09/26/98 21 22 Running $ 6,075 COOK ON COMPETING AT MARTINSVILLE: "Martinsville is your typical short track. It's got action all the way around that place all night long. The spring race is 50 laps longer than the fall race so it takes a little bit different strategy to race there. The fall race you can actually do it on one pit stop. The spring is going to require a minimum of two. With that said, you just have to have a good truck. The No. 1 key ingredient at Martinsville is you have to qualify well because track position is very hard to come by. Obviously with a great pit crew, we've been able to work track position through pit stops so I'm looking forward to that. Just having a great truck rolling right off the trailer, tuning on it well but with a little bit of racing luck because you get caught up in a wreck that's not of your own doing when the track is blocked. So you need to be on your toes all day long and the crew chief call a good race, pit stops have got to be great and I think we can come out of there with a great finish." COOK ON THE MARTINSVILLE FAN BASE: "Martinsville is a pretty cool track from standpoint the fans know that there's only one way in and one way out of the track. They're good fans. They get at the track at 5:30, 6 a.m. everyday the track is open Thursday all the way through Sunday and then line up outside the gate, which is pretty cool in itself. They're looking for autographs, they've got merchandise that needs to be signed and it's a pretty neat time to go out of your way to take care of those fans that take care of us. They're really excited when you get there. We've had some fans that were probably a little too excited when we got there but nevertheless we take care of them just as well as we do the rest of them. It's just a great group of people that come to Martinsville." 2006 RACE RESULTS: Date Race Site Start Finish Laps T. Laps Status Pts. Earnings Feb. 17 GM Flex Fuel 250 Daytona Int'l Speedway 31 10 102 102 Running 134 $18,725 Feb. 24 racetickets.com 200 California Speedway 22 14 106 106 Running 121 $13,590 March 17 John Deere 200 Atlanta Motor Speedway 11 12 135 135 Running 127 $10,815 April 1 Kroger 250 Martinsville Speedway Average Start: 21.3 Average Finish: 12 Wins: 0 Top-5s: 0 Top-10s: 1 Earnings: $43,130 Total Points: 382 Points Standings: 12 Total Owner's Points: 382 Owner's Points Standings: 11 Laps Completed: 343 Total Possible Laps: 343 Percentage: 100 MEET THE NO. 10 FORD POWER STROKE DIESEL BY INTERNATIONAL RACE TEAM . . . Nicole Addison, Rear Tire Changer Marty Brice, Pit Support Jon Bruns, Rear Tire Carrier Bill Cahill, Second Can Gas Man Dennis Connor, Crew Chief Jeff Fleenor, Catch Can Cliff Graves, Shop Foreman Tony Hirshman, Spotter Jeff Kirkendall, Engineer Teresa Kirkendall, Scorer Ken Majors, Engine Tuner Greg Pollex, Truck Owner Jamie Price, Gas Man Steve Rasmussen, Shock Specialist Brian Scanlon, Mechanic Kenneth Purcell, Jack Man Shaun Wheeler, Front Tire Carrier Tim Whitaker, Front Tire Changer / Truck Chief ppc RACING HISTORY NOTES AT MARTINSVILLE: ~ Team Owner, Greg Pollex has started at least one NASCAR NEXTEL Cup, Busch and Craftsman Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway. Pollex's best overall finish as a car and truck owner was in NASCAR Busch Series (NBS) competition with driver Chad Little: fifth in 1994 ###