Jerry Cook and Richie Evans had epic NASCAR rivalry

Jerry Cook’s name will always be part of one of the nation’s most intense on-track racing rivalries.

While not as well-known as the rivalries between Richard Petty, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough and the Allison brothers, the battles between Cook and the late Richie Evans are legendary to fans of NASCAR’s modified tours.

Evans was the first modified driver inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2012. Cook, now 72, will join him Friday, one of five members in the Hall of Fame’s 2016 induction class.

“I had come so close the two years before that I thought, ‘It’s finally happened,’ and it felt great,” Cook said.

Over a 26-year racing career, Cook won 342 races in various race series – most of those in modifieds – and six NASCAR Modified Series championships (1971-1972, 1974-1977).

Only two drivers can claim more series titles – Evans, who won nine times; and Mike Stefanik, a seven-time champion on the modern-day Modified Tour.

Only one can claim more wins – Evans, who had more than 480 career victories before his death in 1985 in a practice crash at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

“Oh yes, we had quite the rivalry,” said Cook, who lived in the same town as Evans – Rome, N.Y. – during their racing careers. “We both lived in the same town, and our kids went to the same schools.

“It was a big rivalry – we had our times where we got along, and we had our times where we didn’t – but the biggest thing is that we were both after the same thing.”

Yet there’s more to Cook’s racing career than what he accomplished on the track.

Cook retired from driving after the 1982 season and was contemplating his future in the sport when he got a phone call from Bill Gazaway, then NASCAR’s director of racing operations.

“They wanted me to come to Daytona,” Cook said, referring to NASCAR’s headquarters in Daytona Beach, Fla. “They wanted to talk to me.”

Cook wonderered if he was in hot water with the NASCAR brass; instead, they were offering him a job. He became NASCAR’s Northeast technical coordinator – the first driver to move into a management role with the sanctioning body.

“When I got down there, that’s when they made me the offer,” Cook said. “They needed somebody up in the Northeast because things were starting to grow, and they needed somebody who knew what they were doing.”

In his new role, Cook oversaw the modifieds and Busch North Series (an offshoot of the bigger Busch Series, now called the Xfinity Tour), as well as all the weekly race tracks operating under the NASCAR banner.

“I looked after the racing and the rules disputes – everything that could come up,” Cook said. “I’ve got to say it wasn’t that hard – I had been racing, and I knew the good stuff, the bad stuff and everything else.

“There were a lot of guys who were scared to death when I got into that (management), because I knew too much. After a year, I decided that I was going to stick with it, and not go back to driving race cars.”

Over a 34-year career as a NASCAR official, Cook – who retired last month – helped with the creation of the modern-day NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and its counterpart, the Southern Modified Tour; and the NASCAR K&N Pro Series tours. He also wrote the first rule book for the NASCAR Truck Series, which began in 1995.

“He’s a racer and always did a good job making fair calls,” said former driver Mike McLaughlin, who won 16 career races and the 1988 Modified Tour title.

“He’s knowledgeable, which is what you need in that position – somebody who’s experienced it. He’s good at what he does, and he carries a certain amount of respect for what he accomplished.”

This story was originally published January 18, 2016 at 5:42 PM with the headline "Jerry Cook and Richie Evans had epic NASCAR rivalry."