1996 Winston Cup Season

Derrike Cope started out the 1996 season hoping for good things to happen since he had finished 15th in points for the 1995 season with the Bobby Allison Motorsports (BAM) team. His prediction for a top ten finish in points for the 1995 season seemed like a likely goal for the 1996 season.

Unfortunately, things did not go as well as hoped for the team in 1996. Car mishaps during races caused some DNF's (Did Not Finish).

Straight Arrow car The big news for 1996 was that the team lost the main sponsor of Straight Arrow Mane 'n Tail. It took a few weeks after the announcement, but the main sponsor of the Bobby Allison team became Badcock Home Furnishings. This was the same sponsor of Derrike Cope's Busch Grand National team. On May 20, Pilot was announced as an associate sponsor for the remainder of the year.

The team unveiled a new in-house chassis at the June 16 race in Pocono. The results were immediately seen with Derrike qualifying second for that race and the following.

Crew chief was Jimmy Fennig.

Year	Races	Wins	Top 5	Top 10	Points	Rank	Winnings
1996	29	0	0	3	2374	35	$675,781

Date	Event	Start	Finish	Status	Money Won	Laps	Laps Led	Race Points	Standing
Feb. 18	Daytona 500 Daytona, FL	22	41	Accident	$43,752	53/200		40	41
25	Goodwrench Service 400 Rockingham, NC	29	8	Running	$25,525	392/393		142	27
Mar. 3	Pontiac Excitement 400 Richmond, VA	27	22	Running	$21,085	398/400		97	24
10	Purolator 500 Hampton, GA	26	35	Overheat	$16,965	181/328		58	31
24	TranSouth Financial 400 Darlington, SC	20	39	Engine	$15,654	130/293		46	36
31	Food City 500 Bristol, TN	17	22	Running	$21,065	338/342		97	32
Apr. 14	First Union 400 N. Wilkesboro, NC	15	13	Running	$19,425	398/400		124	28
21	Goody's Headache Powders 500 Martinsville, VA	14	28	Running	$12,215	462/500		79	28
28	Winston Select 500 Talladega, AL	12	29	Running	$22,425	168/188		76	29
May 5	Save Mart Supermarkets 300 Sonoma, CA	17	39	Accident	$17,095	65/74		46	29
18	Winston Open Concord, NC	5	28	Overheat	$1,700	39/50		---	29
26	Coca-Cola 600 Concord, NC	14	14	Running	$26,450	397/400		121	29
Jun. 2	Miller 500 Dover, DE	17	23	Running	$24,065	492/500		94	28
16	UAW/GM Teamwork 500 Long Pond, PA	2	27	Running	$16,285	183/200	3-22,51-55	87	28
23	Miller 400 Brooklyn, MI	2	40	Engine	$24,080	53/200		43	31
Jul. 6	Pepsi 400 Daytona, FL	17	42	Engine	$20,090	63/117		37	34
14	Jiffy Lube 300 Loudon, NH	25	38	Engine	$19,125	68/300		49	33
21	Miller 500 Long Pond, PA	10	10	Running	$27,825	200/200		134	31
28	DieHard 500 Talladega, AL	23	27	Accident	$22,490	117/129		82	32
Aug. 3	Brickyard 400 Speedway, IN	36	14	Running	$77,960	160/160		121	31
11	Bud at the Glen Watkins Glen, NY	32	16	Running	$21,795	90/90		115	32
18	GM Goodwrench 400 Brooklyn, MI	27	24	Running	$25,015	199/200		91	32
24	Goody's 500 Bristol, TN	37	29	Running	$22,110	458/500		76	31
Sep. 1	Mountain Dew 500 Darlington, SC	11	34	Running	$17,275	316/367		61	31
7	Miller 400 Richmond, VA	18	8	Running	$24,705	400/400		142	30
15	MBNA 500 Dover, DE	15	31	Accident	$23,090	466/500		70	30
22	Hanes 500 Martinsville, VA			DNQ				0	32
29	Tyson Holly Farms 400 N. Wilkesboro, NC	7	37	Running	$13,425	369/400		52	33
Oct. 6	UAW/GM Quality 500 Concord, NC	36	18	Running	$17,950	332/334		109	33
20	AC-Delco 400 Rockingham, NC	27	39	Accident	$17,675	267/393	3 total	51	33
27	Dura-Lube 500 Phoenix, AZ	27	43	Accident	$17,465	114/312		34	33
Nov.10	NAPA 500 Hampton, GA			DNQ				0	35

If you can fill in any missing stats or photos, please let us know.
Note: Thanks to Jerry Michaelsen for some of the stats.