Nextel Open

May 22, 2004
Concord, NC

Derrike will be competing in the Nextel Open with the chance to move on to the Nextel All-Star Challenge if he wins. GEICO was the sponsor for the race.

In the first practice, Derrike was 21st fastest with a time of 31.681 and speed of 170.449.

In the second practice, Derrike was 18th fastest with a time of 31.002 and speed of 174.182.

In Qualifying, Derrike produced a lap of 29.931 and speed of 180.415. At the end of the round, the #50 Dodge was left in 15th position where Derrike will start the race.

Derrike started the race in 15th position and avoided a big pile-up to finish in 10th position.

Derrike updated us on the race. "We started the practice for the Open in very hot conditions with the Bristol car. We were very loose the whole time and even during qualifying. We ran a decent lap in qualifying, but I had hoped for better.

"We started the race with no practice laps as everyone did and we had made some adjustments for being loose and got the car pretty tight in the process. The Trucks had already raced and with the cooler conditions we were just to tight and the car would not turn. We managed to miss the wreck on the start which which I was thankful for because of Geico who sponsored us for the event, as well as we got a bit of a chance to adjust the car which we did make better. A 10th place finish was not what I had hoped we would produce, but we learned some things for this weekend and the 600."