Food City 500

April 13, 1997
Bristol, TN

Commenting on the upcoming race, Derrike said, "It will be a new experience for us in Bristol with the SKITTLES® Pontiac. With each race we learn something new about the Pontiac and its chassis. I'm thrilled with the progress this SKITTLES® team has made. I'm starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel with the chassis. The team is doing a great job getting the car together and with my ability to get around this short track, we should be able to run up front and have a good finish. I feel good about going to Bristol."

In first round qualifying, the team had the 36th quickest time. Second round qualifying was rained out so the remainder of the starting lineup was based on first round qualifying and provisionals with owner's points and postmarks. This left the SKITTLES® team and Derrike in 36th position for the start of the race.

Derrike was able to avoid accidents among the 20 cautions that occurred. This is where Derrike was during the race:

• 32nd position - lap 40 of 500
• 23rd - lap 90
• 18th - lap 138
• 23rd - lap 201
• 13th - lap 289 (best Pontiac at this point)
• 18th - lap 312 (5 cars did not pit)
• 15th - lap 388
• 18th - lap 407 (got back on the lead lap at caution)
• 15th - lap 433
• 10th - lap 460

In the later laps, the car's tires started losing their grip which caused it to turn in slower laps than the other cars. This caused Derrike to lose positions and he finished in 16th position for the team's second top-20 finish and best of the season.

After the race, Derrike commented, "It was a good day for SKITTLES® Race Team. We worked ourselves up into the top-10 late in the race and had our best run of the season. The guys did a good job and worked hard getting the car ready for the race. We really had a better run than where we finished."

"We got breaks with the cautions," said Derrike. "We methodically worked our way toward the front and missed the wrecks. That was the key, it seemed like every one of them happened in front of us. We did what we needed to do. It definitely was a step forward for the SKITTLES® Race Team. We have to keep taking those small steps forward."