Dura-Lube 500

November 2, 1997
Phoenix, AZ

Now, Derrike sits in the No. 36 SKITTLES® Pontiac with just two races left in the 1997 season, still seeking his third Winston Cup victory. The SKITTLES® team, led by crew chief Ryan Pemberton, is confident they can give Cope that extra boost to catapult him into that elusive victory this weekend during the Dura-Lube 500K presented by Kmart in Arizona.

Coming off a fourth-place finish in the World Championship Pit Crew Competition last weekend in Rockingham, N.C., the team has pulled together the experience and knowledge they have gained during their first year.

"We approached the pit crew competition like we would have any race," said Pemberton, whose crew posted a 22.249-second, penalty-free pit stop during the competition. "The SKITTLES® team gets together at least once a week to practice and we just went out and did it like we were supposed to -- no mistakes."

The past couple weeks, the team has worked diligently to prepare the cars, and it has paid off with two top-20 finishes in as many weeks. And, after struggling mid-season in Busch Pole Qualifying, the SKITTLES® team has found the right combination for time trials. Cope has started in the top-15 in the last three races, including a fifth-place start at Talladega.

"If there was any race that we had a better chance of winning, I would bet on Phoenix," said Derrike Cope, who moved up one spot to 27th in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series points standings. "I feel comfortable on the flat, one-mile track. It's really beautiful out there."

"We had that race won in 1995 but Rudd had taken on four tires on the last pit stop whereas we changed only two," said Cope, who led 32 laps during the 1995 Dura-Lube 500. "That proved to be the difference in who went to victory lane." Cope hopes he can rectify things Friday in the area of qualifying at Phoenix. Last season he qualified 27th and went on to finish 43rd. He hasn't qualified higher than 18th the past four years at PIR.

The SKITTLES® Race team welcomed honorary pit crew member Eric Kittiko, 16, to North Carolina Motor Speedway as he celebrated the end of chemotherapy. The Douglasville, Ga., native befriended SKITTLES® co-owner Tom Beard from nearby Atlanta and fulfilled one of his dreams by meeting Cope and attending his first NASCAR race.

Prior to first round qualifying, Derrike Cope was the 11th fastest in practice among the 46 cars present. Before qualifying, Derrike was interviewed and stated that he hoped they could get down into the .60's for time which would give them a good qualifying run. They then would be able to work on it for Sunday.

The SKITTLES® Pontiac was the last car on the track for qualifying and Derrike was close to his prediction as he produced a time of 27.765 and a speed of 129.660. This was good enough for a starting position of 16th in Sunday's race.

This is where Derrike was during the race among the 43 cars:

• 12th position - lap 20 of 312
• 14th - lap 48 (after pit stops, was 13th going in)
• 13th - lap 54 (caution out. During the accident, Derrike tried going around Jeremy Mayfield to gain some spots but Mayfield cut him off and Derrike ended up tagging the wall. No major damage occurred.)
• 17th - lap 82
• 14th - lap 115
• 10th - lap 144
• 13th - lap 163
• 18th - lap 248 (on the lap 221 pit stop, the car ran out of gas causing the team to lose a lap)
• 16th - lap 296

Derrike finished the race in 16th position, one lap down. Derrike was able to stay under 20th position all day.

Bruce Bates and Chuck McCoy were at the race and provided a live report. Bruce's Live Report