ppc Racing officials announced today the hiring of Rick Gay as crew chief of the No. 10 Power Stroke Diesel by International race team with driver Terry Cook in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.  Gay, a veteran crew chief in NASCAR's top-three series since 1999, joined ppc Racing last month to lead the organization's truck program in preparation for its second-year run at the championship trophy.

"I'm very accustom to being a crew chief in NASCAR and feel like I'm where I need to be at this point in my career," said Gay.  "I feel the relationships between Terry, ppc Racing and I have come out quite well thus far.  Everybody is looking for results in 2005 and I feel like I can bring some things to the table that were missing here last year to help the whole Ford Racing program."

"Rick has really turned things around in the race shop," said Cook.  "I've never seen a race team this organized this early in the season.  We've got four trucks all decaled and ready to go and four more are in the works.  We're a lot farther ahead of the game because of Rick's organizational skills and his hiring of the right people.  He's brought a whole lot to ppc Racing in just a short amount of time."

2005 will be ppc Racing's second year in the NCTS and tenth for Cook as a driver, who will be making his 200th-career start later in the season.  Cook says he understands the importance of having an experienced truck crew chief and saw it first hand last year.

"We know the best crew chiefs in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series are those who have experience as a crew chief with a truck program," said Cook.  "Last year we found that bringing a crew chief from another series is a big learning curve.  With Rick's truck experience, he'll bring a lot to our program in 2005 and has already done a lot before the first race of the season."

The NCTS kicks off its 2005 season at Daytona International Speedway, a track Cook has seen success every year since the series' inaugural race in 2000.  Cook is the only driver to finish in the top 10 in every NCTS race and will head to Daytona Beach, Fla. to defend his pole-winning efforts from last year.

"We were looking for someone that was relatively young with some experience and fresh ideas," said Keith Barnwell, general manager at ppc Racing.  "Rick has all the credentials having worked with NASCAR Busch Series teams in the past and with a solid year in the truck series with a manufacturer that made its debut last year."

"The minute I met Rick, I liked him because he's a leader," said Wes Ward, director of competition at ppc Racing.  "In the first five minutes into the interview, I knew this was the guy to lead our truck program in 2005 and the other management staff at ppc Racing felt the same way.  The crew has rallied around him and I think we'll be in good shape with Rick as crew chief."

"The chemistry between Terry and I is there," said Gay.  "Terry is a very good driver and a true professional in his own right.  The biggest thing in this business is to never give up, to never think you're beat.  I've been a part of races where something crazy will happen to you at the beginning of a race and then you end up finishing in the top five or top 10.  You always have to give 110 percent and never think that you're beat.  I think this year we're going to surprise a lot of people."