Tropicana Twister 300

July 10, 2004
Joliet, IL

Being able to handle the high speeds and with hopes of the racing grooves opening up, Derrike Cope and the #49 Advil Ford team head to the 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., this week for Saturday's Chicago 200 NASCAR Busch Series race.

"There is definitely a trick to it," Cope laughed about the fast track. "You have to go in there with a lot of horsepower and a good-handling car. If you are down on motor, it's going to be a long day. If you are not handling, you are going to be reaching for the Advil after you pop the wall. It's a place that requires a lot from the car all day long."

The speed and sensation of speed really comes into play, especially with the less-experienced drivers in the NASCAR Busch Series. Ironically, that comes into play more, Cope says, than at Daytona, the faster track where the series ran last week.

"Because you are turning more and because the laps go by quicker on a shorter track, the sensation of speed is greater at Chicago than, say, Daytona," he said. "Things happen quickly at Daytona because all of the cars are on top of each other anyway. Things happen quickly at Chicago because you come up on them a lot faster. At Daytona, if someone spins in the first turn and you are in the fourth turn, your biggest worry is the guy behind you slowing down and not hitting you in the rear end and turning you around. At Chicago, if some guy spins in the first turn, you're going to be up there at him within a few seconds. Daytona is a case of guard your rear end. Chicago is a case of guard your front end."

Horsepower should not be a major problem for the Advil Ford team this week. "We've had good motors all season," Cope said. "The engine guys really work hard, and they have come up with some pretty good engine combinations. Taking those engines and making them work well with our chassis is important to getting around Chicago. It's important getting around any race track anywhere, for that matter.

"Keep in mind that the definition of a 'huge difference' isn't the same in NASCAR as it is in the real world," he continued. "In the real world, five minutes can be a long time. In the NASCAR world, a tenth of a second is a long time. Even then, the definition comes down to which side of the time you are on. Five minutes getting a root canal is forever, but five minutes playing golf or having fun is no time at all. A tenth of a second behind somebody in NASCAR is forever; a tenth of a second in front of somebody is no time at all."

In the first practice, Derrike was 39th fastest with a time of 30.758 and speed of 175.564.

In Qualifying, Derrike turned a lap of 30.594 and speed of 176.505. At the end of the round this was fast enough for 36th position to avoid taking a provisional.

In Happy Hour, Derrike was 41st fastest with a time of 31.608 and speed of 170.843.

Derrike started the race in 36th position and finished in 38th position.

Derrike informed us of what happened in Chicago after he went for a little vacation with his father. He said, "As for Chicago, we had another decent qualifying effort for the Advil Ford. When the race started we were just way too tight and the car would not turn. We went a lap down and then got a caution. We then made some adjustments and got the car to start to be more productive when the engine tightened up. Evidently we had a piece of something go through the very bottom of the radiator and lost all the water and lost the engine. Not what we were hoping for but we will forge ahead to Loudon this weekend and then we will be off to Pikes Peak for the next Busch race."