Cook hopes to find recipe for success at NHIS

For the last seven years, New Hampshire International Speedway has played host to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. For the last seven years, no one has won a NCTS race twice. And only one driver, Jack Sprague, has won a pole twice.

	Terry Cook

There's a pretty good chance both of those streaks will continue, as there are only two former winners in the New Hampshire 200 field, and no former pole winners.

Wide open? That's about as wide open as deep space.

But if there is one team who can lay claim to NHIS, it's K-Automotive. The Bob and Kay Keselowski-owned team has won twice, with Dennis Setzer in 2000 and with Terry Cook last year.

"They both seem to excel on flat tracks," Bob Keselowski said. "If you put all the races in a hat and pulled (one) out, this is the one that complements both the drivers and the team."

Many drivers don't care for flat tracks, meaning they are beaten before they even show up. But Cook isn't one of those drivers. His first NCTS victory came at the flat Flemington (N.J.) Speedway, and he's also won at Nazareth Speedway and The Milwaukee Mile - both flat tracks.

"A lot of drivers don't care for racing on flat tracks," Cook said. "The key is feeling where the edges are. It's a fine line that's very narrow. I like racing on tracks that require drivers to have more input. Banked tracks are more forgiving."

Besides, "The Keselowskis just have a knack for preparing flat track vehicles," Cook said.

Aerodynamics play a lesser role at New Hampshire, meaning a team and driver have to get the chassis setup right.

"I don't care if you have 900 horsepower, it won't help you if you can't get around the corners," Keselowski said. "It's all about brakes and chassis. You don't have to focus so much on aero here. It's all mechanical."

Cook won four times in 2002, but this season has nothing short of a disappointment. His best finish has been a seventh, and he's finished ninth an amazing eight times.

"I can't tell you how many flat tires we've had this year," Cook said. "In my entire NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career, I've probably doubled the amount of flat tires in my whole career this year. I don't know, it's like the black cloud follows us."

	Credit: Autostock

But maybe that cloud will lift over New Hampshire.

"Whenever you have won at a track the year before and you know the team has always run well there, it adds a certain amount of confidence going into the event," Cook said. "It doesn't matter how the season has gone up until that point because you feel like you've just come off a top finish the very last race. It gives you the confidence and belief that you can go there and easily roll off the trailer and run in the top five all weekend long, and I do believe that."

This week, Gaughan leads the points

Like NHIS with its different winners, the Truck Series has had a repeat points leader in a while. For five consecutive weeks, there has been a different leader. This week, it's Brendan Gaughan, who survived a battle with Bobby Hamilton at Richmond last week to finish seventh.

Gaughan leads Travis Kvapil by five points, with Ted Musgrave 39 points back in third. Setzer, Rick Crawford, Jon Wood and Hamilton are all within 194 points of the lead, too.

Gaughan's Orleans Racing team has some incentive this weekend to boost its impressive 2003 numbers.

"This is definitely a special race for our team," said Gaughan, who has four victories, 10 top-five and 14 top-10 finishes. "Our crew chief, Shane Wilson, our shock expert, Steve Hibbard, and our team trainer, Brett Bergeron, all come from this area. With all their friends and family here, this would be one of the places to take a win. Last year we qualified fourth and finished fifth. Now we're ready to try and better it."

Where is the parking lot?

Chad Chaffin has one previous start at New Hampshire, but that was in the Busch Series. And he doesn't remember it too fondly.

"I went up there in 2000, but we didn't have a very good car, so I really did not learn a whole lot from going there," Chaffin said. "About the only thing I can say is that I know where the track is and where to park the rental car."

Chaffin will be relying on his Bobby Hamilton Racing team for guidance this weekend.

"They have four years worth of notes and experience, along with a pole here in 2000 with Joe (Ruttman)," Chaffin said. "My goal this weekend is to just get a solid finish out of the race and continue to gain ground on the guys in front of us in the points."

Cup drivers come up short at NHIS

Truck Series regulars have won all seven of the races at New Hampshire, and only one full-time Winston Cup driver has finished in the top five. That was in the inaugural event in 1996, when Ernie Irvan finished fifth.

Cup drivers Ken Schrader and Jimmy Spencer are entered in Saturday's New Hampshire 200.