Daytona 500

February 18, 1996
Daytona, FL

Derrike Cope finished the race in 41st after an accident forced him out of the race. After the race, Derrike said, "I was fighting a real bad push. It's a common problem for everybody today. The car wouldn't turn. I had it turned all the way to the left. Cars get underneath you and that causes a lot of problems. I don't know what happened. It just wouldn't turn coming off the corner (turn four) -- I'm not sure if it was a tire going down or a push. I got off the gas but still couldn't turn it. I brushed the wall and I couldn't keep it from turning around. The car drove so good in practice the past few days I thought we were in real good shape. But in the draft the car just started pushing."