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COOK ELATED
WITH NASCAR HALL OF FAME SELECTION
Second Modified Driver To Earn NASCAR’s Top Honor |
 A
contributor to the displays and content of the
NASCAR Hall of Fame since before its doors opened,
Jerry Cook now has a spot reserved as member.
NASCAR revealed on Wednesday the NASCAR Hall of Fame
Class of 2016. Cook was among the five selected from
a pool of 20 nominees to receive the sport’s highest
honor. Upon induction next January, he’ll be one of
just 35 members of NASCAR’s all-time elite.
“I’ve been involved with the NASCAR Hall of Fame
ever since it was a patch of dirt, and I’ve helped
with getting a lot of the stuff for the displays
inside,” Cook said. “It’s going to feel real good to
be a member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, and not just
a visitor or contributor.”
It took some patience for Cook to hear his name
called. He first appeared on the nominee list for
the Hall’s second ballot, but it took until the
seventh class to receive the honor. All the while he
continued to serve as a contributor and ambassador.
“I’ve been on the nominee list for a few years now,
and I’ve come really close the last three years,”
Cook said. “To finally get there is the tops for
me.”
Cook found his success racing in the NASCAR Modified
Division, the forerunner to the modern day NASCAR
Whelen Modified Tour, which traces its roots to the
very first NASCAR-sanctioned race in 1948 on the
beach and road course of Daytona Beach, Florida.
Cook compiled six NASCAR Modified national titles as
he barnstormed up and down the East Coast chasing
wins and points. He compiled 342 checkered flags in
1,474 starts.
“In my world with all of the racing I did, it wasn’t
[NASCAR Sprint] Cup racing, it was short track
racing,” Cook said. “Between all of the
championship, race wins, track titles, state titles
– you name it – this here is like the top of the
world with a bow on it.”
What gives even further credence to Cook’s
accomplishments was that he did it all in the same
era as the late Richie Evans, who was the only
non-premier series driver prior to Cook to receive
NASCAR Hall of Fame selection. Amazingly, both Cook
and Evans hail from the same hometown in upstate New
York.
That’s right. Two of the first 35 members elected to
the NASCAR Hall of Fame come from Rome, New York,
population 34,950.
Cook and Evans, forever linked in racing history,
combined to win the last 14 consecutive NASCAR
Modified Division national championships from
1971-84. Cook’s came in 1971-72 and `74-77.
When Evans earned the inaugural Whelen Modified Tour
title in 1985 prior to his passing, the
previously-retired Cook was serving as the tour’s
director.
A rivalry has never achieved a more elite level in
NASCAR modifieds either before or since.
“We’ve now finished off the battle of Rome,” said
Cook, who still works for NASCAR in the competition
department. “For me and Richie to both be in the
NASCAR Hall of Fame, it kind of tops it off.”
Cook, who was elected one month shy of turning 72,
recognized the honor as being special for NASCAR’s
regional touring and weekly series as well.
“I’ve wanted in the NASCAR Hall of Fame since it
opened up, but this is also great for the NASCAR
Whelen Modified Tour, the NASCAR Whelen All-American
Series and all of the touring series,” Cook said.
“That’s one big thing for me is that I got there
through the tours, not through Cup.”
Cook also recognized that this accomplishment wasn’t
his alone. With his wife, kids and grandkids by his
side Wednesday, he also reverently recognized his
sponsor.
“The sponsorship I had with Hollebrand Trucking
carried me through all of those years,” Cook said.
“That’s what made it possible for me to accomplish
all of the championships was that relationship with
Hollebrand.”
Next year’s NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 22, 2016, and will be
broadcast on NBCSN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, live
from Charlotte, N.C. Cook will be inducted alongside
Bobby Isaac, Terry Labonte, O. Bruton Smith and
Curtis Turner.
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Source:
Jason Cunningham /
NASCAR
Posted:
May 20, 2015 |
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