Ray Cook Ends 2016 on a High Note with Victory in 'Hangover' 40-Lap Feature

Ray Cook took the lead of the 'Hangover' on Lap 15 then cruised to the win at 411 Motor Speedway

Cook’s second spot in his group’s qualifying put him second in the outside row, fourth overall for the 40-lap main event. After jumping to third on the start, Cook went backward again to fourth while trying to take second. After a bit of work, he found a clear path to the leader, McIntosh, who had sprinted away with the others behind fighting for second.

“By about lap 7 or 8, the leader had about a straightaway lead,” Cook said. “The car had been flawless all day and I knew I just had to be patient.”

Ray Cook's win gave him a $4,000 payday, a pretty nice way to ring in the New Year

“It’s huge,” Cook said. “You’re only as good as your last race. Since we won’t race until January 28, it gives us a nice period to enjoy the win.”

The win came with his Capital Race Cars Super Late Model chassis and using and older, though obviously still strong, 427-based V8 from South Carolina’s Kenny Lamb Racing Engines. That engine breathes through a K&N air cleaner on the carburetor and also uses K&N oil filers on the dry sump system.

Ray has been a K&N driver for more than 20 years. “We’ve been using K&N my whole career,” he said. “We’ve had great success with them and never had a single issue with any of their parts.”

Ray Cook has run K&N products in his cars for his whole career

He expects a similar schedule in 2017, though he’s looking forward to his first race of the year, the Cabin Fever 40 at Boyd’s Speedway in Ringgold, Georgia. Cook won that race in 2009 and finished a strong third last year, so he looks to carry his Hangover victory into a great start to 2017.