Dura-Lube 500 Live Report by Bruce Bates

The weather report for the race on Sunday looked pretty bleak when my wife and I got into Phoenix on Saturday but thankfully they were wrong and we woke up on Sunday to a beautiful morning. Instead of cold, wet and windy as forecast, it was a clear blue sky and just a slight chill in the air. We had a good breakfast and headed to the track.

Since I was away from the internet and the Sunday paper was in short supply around our motel, it wasn't until I got there that I saw the qualifying order. Even though Derrike was starting back in 27th position I was hoping for a great run. Last year was a great run for the #12 team and naturally I thought this year would be the same.

After poking around the souvenir trailers for awhile and grabbing a beer and polish sausage for lunch, we decided to head up to our turn four seats. We sat on row 28 so we were high enough to see the entire track. It was shaping up to be a really nice day with the temperature warming up nicely. We sat back and enjoyed the pre-race activities with our friends from California who had also made the trip. I tuned up the scanner and spied down on the Badcock/Pilot Ford sitting on pit road with my binoculars. The word finally came for the drivers to start 'em up and they slowly started to roll around the track.

A few clouds were starting to form and it was clear from the talk on the radios that this would become a factor as the track alternately heated up then cooled. Trust me, when the sun went behind the clouds it got pretty cold. Well the fans stood up and the green flag waved. It was exciting as the racing was really close as most starts are. Derrike neither gained nor lost too many positions but was steadily losing ground to the leaders throughout the early part of the race. On the scanner I heard him tell the crew at one point the car was loose and then later on that it was very tight. When he was running alone it looked like he was holding his own. But when other cars came up to challenge he just couldn't hold it on the bottom of the track and they would usually get around.

As the first pit stops started to come around, Cope was in real danger of going a lap down to the leader Mark Martin. On the radio driver and crew were discussing how many tires to take on the stop. The crew suggested two so as to make up time on the track and Derrike said yes. Derrike also wanted a track bar adjustment and a little less air pressure on the right front. After a good pit stop and four tire stops by all the leaders, the #12 was about a quarter lap in front of first place Mark Martin. The car still didn't seem to be much better and Derrike still complained of a tight condition but he seemed to be doing all right with respect to staying on the lead lap.

At one point he was racing with Jimmy Spencer off of turn four and they got together. There was a lot of tire smoke but neither car seemed to be the worse for wear. I did notice a big dent on the hood of Spencer's Thunderbird though. Mark Martin finally caught up with Cope with Bobby Hamilton on his rear bumper. Mark dove down to the inside but Derrike raced hard on the outside and was staying right with him to avoid going down a lap. They came right past me neck and neck with Cope on the outside. They stayed that way down the front-stretch and as they entered turn one I saw the smoke and Derrike's car into the wall. Martin's car came around with no obvious damage except he did lose the lead. Listening in on the radio I heard Derrike say the clutch pedal was bent and he could probably drive it back around if he could bend it back, but the crew said if it was that bad to just wait for the tow truck. I think it was the spotter who said it looked to him like Mark had gotten loose and had slid up into Cope. The last thing I heard was Derrike Cope telling the pits that he was getting out of the car. And thus ended the day for the #12 team at the Phoenix race just one year after posting their best ever finish.

The remainder of the race was full of close and exciting racing. Mark Martin, Hamilton, Terry Labonte, and Geoff Bodine seemed to be the dominant cars. Turn four was the scene of a few spins and crashes involving quite a few drivers. Many of the cars were sideways through there as their tires became worn. With about 20 laps left, the top four cars were nose to tail. Geoff Bodine held on up front for awhile but eventually dropped back as his older tires gave out. Mark Martin and Terry Labonte battled for several laps until Mark finally took over second place. With the battle for second going on, it allowed Hamilton to pull out to a sizeable lead and he held on to record his first Winston Cup win. The crowd seemed really pleased to see a first time winner and the return of Richard Petty to victory lane.

My wife and I ventured down towards the infield and pit road after awhile. Victory Lane was still a mad house and I didn't get to see much. The Goodyear guys were handing out tires but my wife would have killed me if I had even suggested taking one. We walked along the fence where all the transporters were parked and saw the Badcock truck but no one was around. A couple of the trucks were leaving and we saw Darrell Waltrip go to his trailer and Kyle Petty signing autographs. We decided to head towards the car and back to the motel. As we were walking out I happened on another Derrike Cope fan. He was down from Washington state to watch the race. As we walked along we talked about next year and Derrike's ride in the SKITTLES® car. We also pondered the uncertain future of the Bobby Allison team. I wish them both lots of luck and look forward to seeing them both at the new California Speedway in June. By the way, we drove past it on our way home and you can see the grandstand taking shape. It was a great weekend despite the team's bad luck. Hopefully Atlanta will be a good ending to the season and provide everyone a great start towards next year.