Sharpie Professional 250

April 2, 2005
Bristol, TN

Derrike will be at the wheel of the #28 Ford car for Jay Robinson Racing in Bristol. Here is an MP3 file of Derrike talking about Bristol. Derrike also said, "Bristol has been a good track for Jay and for me. We will once again be running with limited funding for the #28. However, we will use the best power plant that we can acquire. I continue to travel to meet with potential sponsors to provide funds that we can use to move our total program forward."

According to NASCAR.com, the sponsor again is AMD/FOX Sports en Espanol.

Derrike Cope and the #28 Jay Robinson Racing Ford team head to the fast, high-banked .533-mile Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway this week for Saturday's Sharpie Professional 250 NASCAR Busch Series race.

The thoughts of #28 Jay Robinson Racing Ford driver Derrike Cope heading into Bristol:

"Bristol can be the great equalizer among race teams. Say what you want to about restrictor plates or extra templates or common chassis or whatever. Bristol's design tends to make the cars a lot more equal than anything else. The configuration of the track, the high banking and the fact it is just half of a mile (in length) does that. Somebody running on seven cylinders and leading the race isn't necessarily uncommon there – that shows you how the race track is.

"You can manipulate the car if you drive really hard and, if you do have some deficiencies in your car, you can make up for a good bit of that. That doesn't always work but it gives you a lot more of a fighting chance than a lot of tracks. That's one of the reasons you see the ‘chrome horn' thing so often there. The cars are simply so even that even a faster car has to be considerably faster to be able to get around a slower car. The difference in faster and slower at Bristol just isn't as great as it is at a lot of other race tracks.

"We've had pretty good success at Bristol over the years. Even though we're not funded as much as a lot of Busch teams, we've still been able to run pretty well there because the cars are so even.

"For a lot of teams, survival is the name of the game. This is our version of the ‘Wizard of Oz.' Avoid that dadgum witch and you're going to get home in good shape. But that witch is one tough cookie to avoid. Stay out of harm's way and finish the race, and it could end up being a really, really good finish for you. Somebody is going to ‘melt' out there and not make it back. The key is to make sure it's the witch, and not you.

"The concrete and those high-banked corners are tricky, and the key to your chassis setup. You really have to take that concrete into consideration. You lose a lot of grip in those really tight corners but you are carrying a whole lot of speed into those corners at the same time. That banking makes a big difference because you are going into those corners with a lot of G-forces and you use the banking to help you get the car to turn. You want a lot of speed but you have to get it to turn at the same time. It's not as horsepower-oriented a track because of that. It's more chassis oriented because of the tight corners and the concrete. It's a hard place to get your horsepower from the engine to the ground, so you make up for that with a good chassis.

"We're looking forward to Bristol. If we can avoid the problems and calamity there, it could be a good day for us. This Jay Robinson Racing team has some good things going for it, and we're hoping to show that Saturday at Bristol."

In the first practice Derrike was 47th fastest with a time of 16.379 and speed of 117.150. In Happy Hour, Derrike was 49th fastest with a time of 16.228 and speed of 118.240.

Qualifying was rained out so the field was set on owner's points. As a result, Derrike will be starting the race in 23rd position.

The race was postponed until Monday. Derrike started the race in 23rd position and finished in 43rd.