Flat tire dampens Cook's day in Zippo 200

Watkins Glen, NY August 12, 2006 -- Up until the point when his back left tire went flat, Chris Cook and the rest of the Christine Marie Motorsports team was having quite a day on Saturday.

After qualifying 16th for the NASCAR Busch Series Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen International, Cook worked his way near the front of the pack on several occasions behind the wheel of the No. 43 VisitPA.com Dodge.

But with four laps left until the checkered flag came out, Cook ran into some debris on the track and had to head to the pits with a flat left rear tire. The pit stop ultimately cost Cook a number of spots in the running order, and he ended up 34th.

"You want to be thankful like I am," Cook said. "You want to be thrilled to have this opportunity. All of that is great; it’s what I live for. But man, a top 10 is so elusive."

During the first practice session on Friday, Cook turned in the 12th-fastest lap on the 2.45-mile road course. His time during the second practice session was 13th-best. And during Saturday’s race, Cook worked his way into the top five on two occasions.

"I think every team out there, unless they were blind, saw that the No. 43 Dodge was running hard," Cook said. "The car was just running great."

Not letting the flat tire dampen his spirits, team owner Chris Evans was especially pleased with the weekend because of the amount of exposure the team received. During qualifying Saturday morning, TV cameras followed Cook’s car around the track for almost two laps.

"At the end of the day, it’s about making your sponsors happy," he said. "And I think Pennsylvania Tourism will be happy with the amount of exposure it got today."

But the end result definitely makes Cook and Evans want to continue toward their goal of fielding a competitive team each week.

"The fact we went toe-to-toe with some of the biggest teams for the majority of the race says a lot," Evans said.

"To be here and be competitive with a smaller team is big," said Cook. "But to have the result we had is hard. But that’s the world of racing. I guess it puts things in perspective."

About Christine Marie Motorsports, Inc. (CMM)

Christine Marie Motorsports, Inc. was founded in 2004 by Chris Evans, a successful Western Pennsylvania businessman and amateur racer. Evans met veteran driver Chris Cook while attending the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, where Cook was an instructor. The two developed a friendship and later a business relationship that led Evans to form Christine Marie Motorsports, which is named after Evans’ youngest daughter, for the purpose of competing in NASCAR with Chris Cook as the driver. For more information, go to http://www.christinemariemotorsports.com.

###END###

Back to news articles.