Cook Neilson

Cook Neilson (born August 24, 1943) is an American former journalist and motorcycle racer known widely for his win on a Ducati 750SS at the Daytona International Speedway in 1977. He graduated from Princeton in the mid-1960s,

Neilson was inducted into the Ducati North America Hall of Fame, and the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2006.

In 2006, Ducati Motor Holdings announced a limited edition replica of Neilson's 750SS winning motorcycle, which he had nicknamed "Old Blue." This motorcycle, named New Blue, was customized by the NCR racing house based in Bologna. The race replica is in honor of the 30th anniversary of Neilson's win at Daytona.

Cook crashed a Desmosedici RR, one of 1,500 produced, at a Ducati-sponsored trackday at Putnam Park Roadcourse on September 15, 2008. He was not injured in the accident.

Car and Driver In the February 1968 issue of Car and Driver, Neilson authored a uniformly scathing review of the 1968 Kadett LS 1.5L wagon. The vehicle, which by all accounts was in fact a fairly well-executed example in its class, received a singly critical response from Nielson, with General Motors subsequently pulling its advertising from the magazine. Paul Niedermeyer, editor of the automotive history site Curbside Classics, would later call the review "sophmoric" and "blantantly contrived." Author Marty Padgett, in his book "50 Years With Car and Driver,” recounted that the magazine's editor had wanted a diatribe in order to increase the magazine's relevance.