James Preston Cook (October 2, 1921 – November 29, 1983) was a

stock car Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses. It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It originated in the southe ...

racer who competed in the

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England. First run in 1839, it ...

Series and

Pacific Coast Late Model (PCLM) Series. Born in Illinois, Cook lived in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

before relocating west across the United States to

Norwalk, California Norwalk is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 102,773 at the 2020 census. Founded in the late 19th century, Norwalk was incorporated as a city in 1957. It is located southeast of downtown Los Angeles a ...

Biography

Cook began racing in

. He moved to the Western United States in the early 1940s.Biography
at the

West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame The West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall Of Fame, originally the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame, is a Hall of Fame for people associated primarily with late-model stock car racing on the West Coast of the United States. Many NASCAR Grand Nation ...

, Retrieved November 22, 2007 He had a successful short track racing career in Southern California, primarily driving for owner Floyd Johnson. Cook made 39 starts in the

Nextel Cup The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, ...

series from 1954 through 1970. Most of Cook's starts were in West Coast races during the time the races counted for both

and PCLM points, though he did compete in the inaugural

World 600 The Coca-Cola 600, originally the World 600, is an annual NASCAR Cup Series points race held at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, on a Sunday during Memorial Day weekend. The first race, held in 1960 in NASCAR, 1960, was a ...

Charlotte Motor Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway (known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009 due to sponsorship reasons) is a quad-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Concord, North Carolina. It has hosted various major races since it ...

and in the 1964

Daytona 500 The Daytona 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series motor race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is the first of two Cup races held every year at Daytona, the second being the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and one of three ...

and Richmond 250. After this foray, his

series starts were limited to an annual start in the Motor Trend 500, then held each January at

Riverside International Raceway Riverside International Raceway (sometimes known as Riverside, RIR, or Riverside Raceway) was a motorsports race track and road course established in the Edgemont area of Riverside County, California, just east of the city limits of Riversid ...

. He did compete regularly in the PCLM series, primarily driving for owners Floyd Johnson or Cos Cancilla, finishing in the top ten in points eight times between 1956 and 1969, with a best points finish of 3rd on three occasions (1963, 1967 and 1968). He had five career victories in the PCLM series, the last one coming at Tri-Cities Speedway in West Richland, Washington in July 1969. Cook scored one career win in the

series at the old California State Fairgrounds in

Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...

on September 11, 1960. The 100 mile race took place on the 1 mile dirt oval. Cook, driving Floyd Johnson's Dodge, edged Scotty Cain's T-Bird. Cook's racing career came to an end when he was severely injured in a crash during the 1970 Motor Trend 500 at

on January 18, 1970. His Ford crashed into the end of the turn 9 wall and he suffered head trauma and many broken bones. After his accident left him using a wheelchair full-time and with large medical and hospital bills, benefit races were held for him at Southern California tracks. Cook was murdered on November 29, 1983, by a drifter who broke into his

Oceanside, California Oceanside is a beach city in the North County (San Diego area), North County area of San Diego County, California, United States. The city had a population of 174,068 at the 2020 United States census, making it the most populous city in the Nort ...

apartment and beat him to death with one of his racing trophies. In 2006, Jim Cook was inducted into the

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Jim 1921 births 1983 deaths NASCAR drivers People murdered in California Racing drivers from California Racing drivers from Illinois Sportspeople from Norwalk, California Deaths by beating in the United States Racing drivers from Boston 1983 murders in the United States