8/4/02……… Terry Cook dominated Friday's Power Stroke Diesel 200 at the Indianapolis Raceway Park, racking up his fourth Craftsman Truck Series victory in the 2002 season. Cook started from the pole and led 178 of the 200 lap race, beating second place finisher Jason Leffler to the checkered flag by a 1.5 second margin. The victory was the fifth in Cooks truck series career and his third in the last six races.

Cooks win marked the second time this season he has pocketed the $10k bonus for winning from the pole. He won his first bonus at Milwaukee on June 29th. Jason Leffler, denied once again the long awaited trip to victory lane, had to settle for his fifth runner-up finish of the season. The only good thing about the finish is that Leffler now holds a historic Craftsman Truck Series record for the most second place finishes with out a victory, and the season isn't over yet, there are still nine races to go. I'm sure Leffler remembers Dale Earnhardt's feelings about finishing second, "Finishing second only means that you're the first loser."

Travis Kvapil crossed the finish line third followed by two more former Winston Cup drivers, Mike Wallace, and Robert Pressley, joining their former Winston Cup comrade Leffler in the top five. Former Winston Cup great Darrell Waltrip finished sixth, followed by Lance Norick, Jon Wood, Bobby Dotter, and Matt Crafton.

Mike Bliss, who has three victories so far this season, is sitting atop of the driver's point's standings with 2079. Terry Cook's win moved him up two spots to second place, just a mere five points behind Bliss. I'm sure Cook is now regretting even more the 100 points he was fined by NASCAR for the engine infraction following the Season opener at Daytona. If not for that serious infraction by his crew, Cook with his four victories would be 95 points ahead of Bliss.

Jason Leffler's fifth second place finish has moved him up three spots in the standings with 2050 points, just -29 down from Bliss. Leffler is definitely in the running for the championship, and if he keeps up his second place finishes, he can win the championship without a victory. Ted Musgrave dropped down one spot to fourth with a -56 with Robert Pressley moving up two spots, right on Musgrave's tail with a -58.

Points positions six thru ten are: -1 Rick Crawford, -67; -5 David Starr, -86; Dennis Setzer, -108; Travis Kvapil, -166; coy Gibbs, -241.

Bobby Hamilton Racing has landed Williamson-Dickie Mfg. Company as the new sponsor of the No. 18 Dodge driven by Robert Pressley. The Dickies work wear logo will adorn the No. 18 Dodge for the rest of this season, and all of 2003, along with the newly acquired Square D associate sponsor that will share the logo honors. The No. 18 will now be known as the Dickies/Square D Dodge. The Dickies logo will appear on the rear quarter panels, rear TV panel, and the rear deck area while the Square D logo will adorn the hood. The No. 18 has raced without a sponsor all season; the new sponsorships give Bobby Hamilton Racing a large boost.

8/11/02……… The Federated Auto Parts 200 at Nashville Super-Speedway was won by pole sitter Mike Bliss with the No. 16 IWX Motor Freight Chevrolet. With the win, Bliss has tied Terry Cook with four wins in the 2002 season. Bliss got by Ted Musgrave with ten laps left on the board, then held him and Rick Crawford off for the close victory.

Rick Crawford followed Bliss across the finish in the No. 14 Circle Bar Motel Dodge. Ted Musgrave was third in the No. 1 Mopar Dodge followed by Bobby Hamilton Jr. in the No. 4 Harris Elec. Dodge and Dennis Setzer in the No. 46 Acxiom Chevrolet to found out the top five. Only the top five finished on the lead lap completing the full 151 laps to make up the 200 miles on the .750 mile track.

Rookie Brendan Gauhan finished sixth with the No. 62 NAPA Dodge followed by last week's winner, Terry Cook, in the No. 29 Power Stroke Diesel Ford. Jon Wood finished eighth in the No. 50 U.S. Navy Ford, followed by Robert Pressley in the No. 18 Dickies/Square D Dodge. The aforementioned drivers in positions six thru nine finished the race one lap down. Tenth place finisher Mike Wallace, driving the No. 52 Federated Auto Parts Chevrolet, crossed the line for the final time two laps down.

Mike Bliss, this week's race winner, is still sitting on top of the driver's point's standings with 2259 points. Bliss stretched his lead out a little over second place driver Terry Cook from five to 34 points. Ted Musgrave moved up one spot to third and now has a -61 deficit. Rick Crawford's second place finish moved him up two spots to fourth with a -72. Robert Pressley remains in fifth with a -100. With just seven races remaining, the championship is still up for grabs, and is too close to call at this time. Any one of the top five couple pull it off, although fifth place Pressley would have to win four or five of the remaining seven races to be assured of the top spot. It doesn't stand to reason that the other four drivers could all have poor finishes in four of the remaining races.

Points positions six thru ten are: -3 Jason Leffler, -130; David Starr, -131; Dennis Setzer, -133; Travis Kvapil, -273; Coy Gibbs, -289. Leffler, Starr, and Setzer have an outside chance of winning the top spot, but it doesn't seem likely. What seems more likely is the chance for any of them to improve their positions into the top five. Kvapil and Gibbs are too far out to possibly have a chance, but they could still improve their point's positions, or with bad luck, get bumped out of the top ten altogether.

The next Craftsman Truck Series event is on the .750 oval at Richmond, Virginia, September 5th. The scheduled race at Chicagoland Speedway for August 25th was cancelled by the International Speedway Corp. owned racetrack due to fears of low ticket sales.