Samsung/RadioShack 500

April 9, 2006
Fort Worth, TX

Derrike and the #74 Dodge are heading to Texas. Derrike told us, "It looks as if we will have the My Guardian/Sundance Vacations/YRA Dodge at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend! I am looking forward to this opportunity after last weekend. I really enjoy The Texas race track. It is very fast and always produces a great race. I have had some very good runs there as of late, both in the Busch Series as well as the Cup series.

"Additionally, I will be playing in a Charity Golf Tournament for the YRA on Wednesday.

"I will be at the track on Thursday to cheer on Jay Robinson and Jorge Goeters, the young Mexican driver, in their effort to make the Busch Series race. I will update you after qualifying on Friday night. Wish us luck!"

In the first practice, Derrike was 39th fastest with a time of 29.415 and speed of 183.580.

In Qualifying, Derrike produced a lap of 29.091 with speed of 185.624. At the end of the round, the My Guardian/Sundance Vacations/YRA Dodge was left in 38th position which was fast enough to make the team's first race.

After qualifying for the team's first race, Derrike said, "I am very pleased with our effort here at Texas! Obviously, we needed this kind of a result for all our sponsors: my Guardian 911, Sundance Vacations, YRA, and Royal Administration. They all have been all very supportive. My Guardian 911 is based here in Irving, TX, so this we be a great weekend to have all the sponsor people here to experience this spectacle of Nextel Cup racing. I am looking forward this race. I will update you later after the two practice sessions on Saturday."

In the second practice, Derrike was 43rd fastest with a time of 30.313 and speed of 178.141. In Happy Hour, he was also 43rd fastest with a time of 30.327 and speed of 178.059. Derrike updated us after Saturday practices. He said, "Our two practice sessions today went fairly well. We were not very fast, but we ran used tires that had heat cycles on them. I tried to keep the car pretty loose to start the race thinking that the Busch race probably would make the track tighter than when we practiced today. We did have a transmission problem right at the end of practice. I picked up a vibration in third gear, and sure enough when we took the cover off the teeth were broken. So I think we will have to go to the tail of the field to start the race. We will do the best that we can. Hopefully we can have a productive effort and start to build on this weekend for the future. I will fill you in Sunday evening with my perspective on how the day goes."

Derrike started the race in 38th position and finished in 41st position.

Derrike gave us an update on the weekend. "It was a great weekend for the My Guardian 911/Sundance Vacations/YRA Dodge Team. There was a lot of effort put forth and the results were promising for the future. We obviously did not finish the race because of a faulty alternator, but on the track the car was not bad and we were able to learn quite a bit. We were tight as we started the race, because we had the car very loose the day before in final practice expecting the track to tighten up after the Busch Series race, but it was a bit on the tight side. All in all I was pleased with the way we ran and the prospect of what I believe we are capable of in the near future. We came in after we started to run out of gas. I got on pit road and to our pit but the engine had began to lose power and then would not start because the battery was dead. We went to the garage to change the battery, and went back on the track to only have it do it again quickly. We did not have a spare alternator and were many laps down at that point so the team decided to call it a day.

"We did have a little problem in inspection on Friday, and you may see the team get a fine for a situation with an intake manifold that NASCAR confiscated from us. We only have a short track manifold available to us, so we had Joey Arrington Racing engines send us a manifold for the engine but it did not meet NASCAR dimensions so they took it and will probably fine us. I just wanted you all to know what the situation was. We had not even been through inspection before it was spotted which we knew nothing about. It is unfortunate but we will try and update our engine program a bit shortly.

"It looks like our next event will be the Phoenix race. After this weekend I cannot wait to get back to the track! I hope you all enjoy your Easter weekend. If any newsworthy information comes up in the mean time I will be sure to update you."

One fine and two penalties have been issued to the No. 74 Dodge team competing in the Nextel Cup Series, as a result of rule violations last week at Texas Motor Speedway. Due to violations of Sections 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing), 12-4-Q (car, car parts, components and/or equipment that do not conform to NASCAR rules) and 20-5.9G(1) (external modifications to the intake manifold deemed impermissible unless authorized by the Series Director) of the 2006 Nextel Cup Series Rule Book, crew chief Domenick Turse was fined $50,000, driver Derrike Cope was penalized with the loss of 25 driver championship points, and car owner Ray McGlynn was penalized 25 owner championship points. The infraction was discovered during opening day inspection.