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Golden Corral 500March 14, 2004
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Look for Derrike and the Arnold Motorsports #50 Dodge team this weekend in Atlanta at Sunday’s Golden Corral 500 with Redneckjunk.com again sponsoring the #50 Dodge. Derrike and the team are optimistic going into this weekend’s race. Earlier today we spoke with Derrike and he said, "We are really looking forward to Atlanta based on last week and our performance in races to date this year. Obviously we have encountered some issues, but as a team we have handled them well and clearly are benefiting from our experience. We are taking the same car to Atlanta that we ran last week in Las Vegas. That car has really good tendencies. All in all we are on the road to having some really good things happen for our program. I like the track at Atlanta and expect that we will qualify well and run well there in the race." In the first practice, Derrike was 32nd fastest with a time of 29.652 and speed of 186.969. In Qualifying, Derrike produced a lap of 29.523 and speed of 187.786. At the end of the round that was good enough to get in on time with a 34th starting position. In the second practice, Derrike was 35th fastest with a time of 30.532 and speed of 181.580. In Happy Hour, Derrike was 31st fastest with a time of 30.318 and speed of 182.862.
Derrike started in 34th position and finished in 38th after having to leave the race after a rod broke in the engine.
Derrike gave the following summary of Sunday’s race at Atlanta. "Overall, we were quick off of the truck. We were perhaps a little aggressive in qualifying trim and as a result we didn’t turn the speed in qualifying that we had hoped for. In the race the car was good in the middle and top of the track. We were loose, but pretty good on long runs. We put a rubber in the right front in the pits which helped our handling. Actually, after that we were picking cars off and moving forward. All was well until we broke a rod. Overall, what we are doing as a team was positively reinforced Sunday. I was really impressed with our crew and there ability to fix handling issues during our pit stops. We’re building a new car for Texas and are optimistic as we look ahead to future races."
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