Pontiac Excitement 400 Live Report by Patty Leizear and Carol Dignazio

Patty was excited about going down on Friday, February 28th to watch qualifying and practice. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate. Even though it was pouring rain and cold, spirits were raised when the SKITTLES® flag and trailer was spotted as soon as Patty pulled into the track parking lot. T-shirts, coffee mugs, sweatshirts, diecast car, key chains, decals, hats, denim shirts, beautiful jackets (light weight and mid-weight) all in bright, fun colors and full of SKITTLES® filled the trailer. The merchandise is really nice - many more items than what we've had to choose from in the past with other sponsors. Needless to say, she spent much time at the trailer (it was just too hard to decide what to buy!).

Weather again canceled qualifying on Saturday morning, March 1, while Carol was strolling through the merchandise trailers. Within minutes, fears of Derrike not being in the race were put aside as the fine folks in the SKITTLES® trailer gave her the good news that he was in the race!

On Saturday, March 1, Carol attended an autograph session in the Exhibition Hall at the Richmond Fairgrounds. Derrike joined other Pontiac drivers for a line-autograph session. Proceeds from donations went to the Robert E. Lee Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Joining Derrike were Bobby Hamilton, Johnny Benson, Ward Burton, Chad Little, Kyle Petty, Bobby Labonte, Buckshot Jones, and Jim Yates (NHRA Pro-stock). The session began just a little late, but Carol and friends got to meet Derrike and the rest of the guys. A great time was had by all with a bunch of money being raised for the Boy Scouts. Carol offered Derrike SKITTLES® candy, but he declined saying "I've had plenty today already!" Nice to see all these guys giving their time to this cause! Thank you!

Race day started early for Patty - leaving home at 6:30 a.m. (Carol was probably still in bed!). The weather was still undetermined, but we all had hopes of seeing a race that day. As it turned out, it was cloudy most of the day, a nice cool breeze, and the sun popped out just long enough to give us all a sunburned face, but no more rain!

Patty and Carol met for the very first time on Saturday morning in front of the SKITTLES® trailer (how appropriate!). The two have become good friends as a result of the Derrike Cope Website. (Thanks Jeff!) They spent too short a time together before going back to get ready for the race. They look forward to getting together in June at Dover, and then again in Richmond for the September race!

The SKITTLES® car is extremely easy to spot on the track, the colors are vibrant, and Carol heard lots of comments about the good things to expect from the SKITTLES® Pontiac with Derrike Cope at the wheel! Unfortunately, Derrike had to start at the back of the field, and we had high hopes of seeing him go straight to the front. After awhile, it became apparent that that wasn't going to happen. This is what Patty heard from Derrike and his crew on the scanner:

• Lap 7 - took on 4 tires and a round in the right rear
• Lap 18 - Derrike reported something was loose in the car
• Lap 22 - Derrike reported a vibration coming from somewhere
• Lap 101 - took on 4 tires
• Lap 181 - took on 4 tires and 1/2 more bite out of the rear
• Lap 235 - Derrike reported that the longer he ran, the tighter the car got. He asked for 1/2 lb. out of the right front
• Lap 248 - took on 4 tires

The car looked stronger toward the end of the race. It was too late to make much of a move, although Derrike did improve on his spot those last few laps after the final caution.

We'll continue to look forward to good things from Derrike and the entire SKITTLES® team.