(b. 6/20/43)
Hometown: Rome, N.Y.
Competed: 1963-82
Starts: 1,474
Wins: 342
Poles: 26
Jerry Cook made his name in modifieds, winning six NASCAR Modified championships, four coming consecutively from 1974-77. All the while, he was vying with another driver from his hometown of Rome, N.Y., nine-time champion Richie Evans, for supremacy in NASCAR’s open-wheel realm. The rivalry was home-grown – and intense.
Modified racing is NASCAR’s oldest form of competition – modifieds were the staple of the very first NASCAR season in 1948. Cook has said the cars’ appeal was based on that history and the fact that the racing is unique within NASCAR.
After retiring from racing in 1982, Cook stayed with the sport and helped shape the series that is known today as the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. Cook served as the series’ director when it began in 1985 and remains with NASCAR as competition administrator.
In 1998, he was named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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