SKITTLESŽ Race Team Testing

The testing of the speedway car in the wind tunnel went well for the SKITTLESŽ team on Nov. 21st. Derrike Cope said, "We were the first Pontiac in there so we only had a couple of Chevrolets that were physically in the wind tunnel prior to us. We felt pretty good about what we saw. The drag in the car was a little bit higher than what we've seen in the Chevrolets, but our downforce numbers for the Pontiac were pretty good. So we were very pleased with the first initial tests there, and feel like we've got a race car that we can make some changes on what we learned in the wind tunnel, and be able to go back to our first tests on speedways and get a good baseline."

The team is busy building race cars for the upcoming season. "We've got four cars in there now," said Derrike. "Three cars that are all completely in primer and being final assembled. The speedway car is all done. The first short track car, intermediate type car, is almost finished. The second car is starting to be assembled, and the third car is the car that Jack Sprague ran for Hendricks. They tore it up a little bit in Atlanta, but it's getting ready to get some new front fenders put on it and then it will be ready to go. So we're moving right along. The fifth car is now having a body put on it, and we have a sixth car there that we're doing some preparation work on. As soon as the other car comes back, that one will go down and have a body put on it. So by Christmas we should have a good fleet of at least six cars looking pretty good."

On further testing, Derrike said, "The trailer is back and has been painted. We're hoping to do a little testing at a short track somewhere just before Christmas with two or three of the cars and shake them down, so we're looking forward to that."

The team participated in the Daytona test for General Motors cars from Jan. 6-8. Derrike was the fastest Pontiac in the group with a speed of 185.185. Looking at cumulative results between the Fords and General Motors cars, the team was the 17th fastest.

Derrike ended day one of the final testing at Daytona again as the fastest Pontiac with a speed of 186.575. That put him in 10th among the GM cars being tested. Day two showed Derrike with a speed of 186.208, 11th fastest of the GM cars. On the final day, Derrike had a slower time of 185.124 which put him 18th fastest for the day.

Derrike was really pleased with the Daytona testing. "The car was very productive and we learned a lot about the Pontiac. The whole thought process going down was to try to learn and compile as much data as we could. We also were able to participate in some drafting down there."

Drivers that participated in the drafting besides Derrike were Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, Robby Gordon, Ricky Craven, Bobby Hamilton, and Sterling Marlin. Derrike continued, "We were with some very very fast cars who are typically up front and we drafted right there. The car was very competitive and the car seemed to be very stable. We are guardedly optimistic that the car is going to race very well."

After the test, Derrike said the guys in the shop were finishing the cars with the final paint colors including some subtle changes. The speedway car will have some changes made to it to enhance what they learned in Daytona. "The guys are just really enthused," said Derrike. "They're doing pit stop practices tonight. They're working on all areas of the team."

On further testing, Derrike said, "Wednesday (Jan. 29) we'll be in Richmond, Virginia testing for two days. We're getting ready to take our short track car and intermediate car up there. We're taking the Richmond and Rockingham car up there, both to shake them down, and hopefully again compile some data where we can try to understand the cars a little bit more with some more downforce numbers."

The team tested in Texas and learned a lot. After missing the Atlanta race, Derrike accelerated the #36 SKITTLESŽ Pontiac around the new 1.5-mile track into one of the top five times. "We had a good test and learned a lot while in Texas," said Derrike. "Hopefully, we'll be able to take this new knowledge and see how it relates to other race tracks. If we can do that, it will quantify what we learned in Texas and we can parlay that into some things for Darlington."

When asked about Texas Motor Speedway, Derrike said, "When you're standing inside the garage area it looks just like Charlotte. However, the race track has some different characteristics than Charlotte, less banking and more grip. You have really great grip down there but the transitions into the corners, into one and off of four leave a bit to be desired."

The team also tested in Concord after that. "We have a test car that's like a puzzle and pieces can be easily removed," said Derrike. "By taking it to the race track this way, we can apply the information learned from Texas to a smaller track with less grip, proving the things we did to make the car fast in Texas are not just indicative of a smooth race track with a lot of grip."