Ray Cook

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Ray Cook Racing Press Release - June 21, 2004

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

June 21, 2004

(BRASSTOWN, NORTH CAROLINA) Ray Cook had an up-and-down week last week when he attended three Stacker 2 Xtreme Dirtcar Series events and the ARCA RE-MAX Series event at the Michigan International Speedway. The week kicked off last Tuesday night with a $10,000 to win Stacker 2 XDCS show at the Davenport (IA) Speedway. Ray won his heat race and finished second in the YJ Stinger Energy Drink Dash in his Dodge / Bill Elliott Racing / Evernham Performance Parts #53 MasterSbilt / Gaerte Intrepid. In the feature event, Ray suffered a flat tire while running third and had to restart at the tail of the field after the crew changed his flat Goodyear Eagle. “The Tarheel Tiger” battled back to finish fourteenth after the unfortunate flat tire.

Ray then traveled to the Michigan International Speedway to try to qualify for the ‘Flagstar 200’. It was Ray’s first ever attempt at an ARCA RE-MAX Series start. Ray piloted the #98 Bill Elliott Racing Team – Melling Dodge and posted the third quickest speed of the day during the first practice session on Thursday. Ray was fifth fastest in the Friday’s morning practice, but he spun off turn two and made contact with the outside retaining wall. He was not injured, but the car was done for the weekend after suffering heavy rear-end damage.

“I was real excited about our chances at Michigan,” said Cook. “I think everyone involved with the team was really excited about the laps we were turning and our chances of running up front. I really don’t know why I spun coming off turn two, but Bill (Elliott) thinks there was water or something on the track that caused me to lose it. It was a great experience and I hope to get another chance to do it again soon.”

After Ray’s practice mishap at Michigan on Friday, Ray flew to the Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, WI for the 6th Annual ‘Masters’ weekend, which featured a pair of $10,000 to win shows. Ray won his heat and finished second in the YJ Stinger Dash to earn an outside front row position for the 50-lap feature event on Friday. After racing all over the Top Ten, Ray finished in the sixth spot.

On Saturday at Cedar Lake, Ray once again qualified and ran well in his heat race. He posted the sixth fastest time in qualifying and ran second in his heat race. Ray backed up in the 50-lap feature event that went caution-free and was completed in just ten minutes and twenty seconds. Ray eventually wound up in fifteenth place when the checkered flags flew over the field. The SPEED Channel cameras captured the action at Cedar Lake on Saturday night and it will be aired on Saturday, July 17 at 3 pm E.D.T. Ray is currently ninth in the latest edition of the Stacker 2 XDCS point standings.

“Each night in our dirt car was basically the same,” stated Ray today. “We qualified up front and then heat raced well, but we just missed it a little in each of the three features. I got a flat tire at Davenport after me and (Jimmy) Mars made contact and that cost us a strong finish. Then we missed the setup a bit on Friday at Cedar Lake and then tried to go back the other way for the Saturday night show. We ended up being off even more and backed up. I feel strong about our program though and I think we are running better than we have all year.”

Ray and the team will travel to the Wythe Raceway in Wytheville, VA this Saturday night for a Stacker 2 Xtreme Dirtcar Series / Southern XDCS co-sanctioned event. The ‘Battle of the Blue Ridge 50’ will pay $10,000 to the winner and will be taped once again by the SPEED Channel cameras. The action will also be webcast for computer users starting at 9:30 pm E.D.T. Computer users can find the webcast at RSBN.net and follow the prompts. Visit www.xtremedirtcars.com to get the latest news and information concerning this event.

The latest on Ray Cook Racing can be found at www.raycookracing.com.

Media Contact: Ryan Delph – Delph Communications
 
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