Derrike Cope and SKITTLES® Racing

On Sunday October 6, 1996 in Charlotte, it was announced that Derrike Cope will be driving for the MB2 Motorsports #36 SKITTLES® Pontiac in 1997.

Derrike commented on the new team. "Jay Frye is the team manager. Jay used to be with Valvoline and Mark Martin originally, and then with Rick Hendrick. Jay's administrative role has been very very good and it's a good opportunity for him. He's doing an outstanding job with the preparation of the team.

"Hendrick Motorsports will produce the engines for us. Nelson Bowers and Rick Hendrick have been personal friends for some time and it's been a big dream of Nelson's to get involved along with the other owners. With his affiliation with Rick, he was very fortunate to have Rick aid him in the development of this team."

Even though Hendrick Motorsports run Chevrolet's, the engines are the same as in Pontiacs. "It's the same motor. The only difference in General Motors is just the body," clarified Derrike.

Derrike was asked if there was going to be any adjustment for him moving to a Pontiac. "I don't think so. It's a fine race car; it's proven that it's obviously been very productive. Maybe with a few more teams which could trade some knowledge and maybe collectively work towards a betterment of the car itself. I don't think for myself it's going to be a big transition change. You just have to go test, find the tendencies of the car, and adjust for those. The Chevrolet motor will be a big adjustment, they are a different animal. How they move the car will be different so I'll need to make some adjustments there, but all in all it's a race car."

Overall Derrike said, "I'm really excited about the opportunity. They're a national company, they're a leader in their industry, so obviously we're going to be looking to do an enormous amount of national advertising and nationwide programs. A show car program, we're looking to doing some exciting things from that standpoint, and that excites me. I'm really looking forward to that. The funding's there, it's going to be a well funded team. The owners are real business orientated so I like a company that's real structured and real organized and that's the way this program has been. From my first initial meeting, it was a very unique way of approaches they took towards assembling this team in selecting their drivers and their people. So it's been a very business like program so I really like that."