Pocono 500

July 26, 2009
Indianapolis, IN

Derrike will be driving the #75 flipNbags.com Dodge at the Brickyard.

In the first practice, Derrike was 45th fastest with a time of 53.827 and speed of 167.202. In the second practice he was 46th fastest with a time of 52.836 and speed of 170.338. He did not participate in the third practice.

In Qualifying, Derrike produced his fastest lap of 52.704 with a speed of 170.765. This was 46th fastest and not enough to make the race.

After the weekend Derrike said, "You are all probably wondering what happened at Indy. Simply put we did not perform well enough to make the race. We struggled from the very first lap on the racetrack. We were loose and the car would not seem to allow me to drive it. It wanted to drive me which will not work. We just do not have enough experience yet with this car to be consistent enough to battle effectively to qualify for one of these Sprint Cup races at this exact moment.

"Gary Keller and myself, along with Rick and Del Markle, are working on acquiring some assistance from a veteran crew chief to lead us down the proper path. We have already purchased some parts and pieces that he has led us to believe is necessary to start that process. We will take the next two weeks to properly prepare for Michigan and try there again.

"We were scheduled to run Pocono this weekend, but have elected to withdraw and be better prepared with some things that hopefully will put us closer to the competition at Michigan in a couple weeks."