Aaron's 312

October 30, 2004
Hampton, GA

Derrike Cope and the #49 Advil Ford team head to the 1.54-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway this week for Saturday's Aaron's 312 NASCAR Busch Series race.

The thoughts of #49 Advil Ford driver Derrike Cope heading into Atlanta:

"It seems almost ironic what I think people are going to see Saturday at Atlanta. The IROC cars will be there, the 12 identically-prepared cars with drivers from a variety of series, and the Busch Series cars will be there, 43 not identically-prepared cars with drivers with a variety of experience. Frankly, I think the Busch race will be the more entertaining one.

"I wonder if cars can't be too closely prepared, if maybe getting them so close together makes it impossible to pass. Track position has become increasingly vital in the Cup series – the Busch Series, too, but especially the Cup series – and it is everything in IROC.

"'Entertainment' is the keyword for all of it. You have to get people's attention and keep people's attention. You have to excite them, show them some great things. Do that, and they not only stay for one race but they keep coming back for the others . . . whether in the grandstands or on television or listening on radio. That tends to make this race one of the most crucial. While the track is in Hampton, Atlanta is right up the road – and we get a lot of attention there. Atlanta is the ninth-largest television market in the country. That, in itself, makes it a pretty big race for each team in the series, or at least, each team with national corporations as sponsor. Well, it should make it important for every team in the series.

"I think one of the reasons Jay (Robinson, team owner) has been successful is the fact that he does understand that, and does understand the basics of ownership. These cars are racing vehicles but they are marketing vehicles too. A car owner who looks at his teams as being both is the one who is going to be successful. A great racing team with no sponsor is not going to be successful for long. A racing team successful from the marketing side needs success on the track as well. Many times, success in one area can lead to success in the other.

"That's where Jay has done well. To be solid as a race team, you have to be solid on the business side as well. And he has built a strong foundation for Jay Robinson Racing and for the future. Things haven't always progressed as quickly as we would like but they have progressed. Jay has his eye on the future, and the direction of this race team has always been forward. We're already putting more good things together for next season, and we're talking with more potential sponsors as associates and as potential primaries on Jay's other cars.

"That makes Atlanta a big race for us. All are big races but Atlanta sticks out because of its size.

"The guys on this race team work hard. With the budget constraints we have, I'd say they do a pretty good job. This isn't one of those $4 or $5 million teams but every bit of sponsorship that comes in goes into the racing effort. The thing about Jay Robinson is if you put $1 million worth of sponsorship into his team, he'll make it look like $2 million and you will see more than that in return. That's his philosophy that we are carrying into Atlanta, and that's the reason we're moving forward with this Advil Ford team. It's a big race for all of us."

Also available here is an MP3 file of Derrike discussing Atlanta.

In the first practice, Derrike was 49th fastest with a time of 32.559 and speed of 170.275.

In Qualifying, Derrike produced his fastest lap of 31.653 with speed of 175.149. This was not fast enough for the top 38 so the team took a provisional and Derrike will be starting the race in 42nd position.

In Happy Hour, Derrike was 39th fastest with a time of 32.332 and speed of 171.471.

Derrike started the race in 42nd position and finished in 31st position.