Daytona 500

February 15, 1998
Daytona Beach, FL

During practice before first round qualifying, Derrike was interviewed by Bill Webber of ESPN2 when Derrike was called "the most excited guy down in the garage area." Here is part of that interview:

DERRIKE: "Boy, I am excited. We've got a lot of great things happening. We're running fast, we've got a lot of new sponsors on board... Bryan foods, Jimmy Dean Sausage, State Fair Foods, Brut, Suave, Degree Anti-Perspirant, Gumout, we are loaded down, loaded for bear and ready to go at 'em."

BILL: "You guys are making an engine change Derrike. Tell us about that."

DERRIKE: "We came down here with one of the motors we did a lot of pre-testing with, we want to try to backup where we had been at Talladega and here at Daytona. Now we're putting the qualifier in, putting the light oil to it, lay it down, see what we've got, and we'll know here in about 15-20 minutes what we've got for tomorrow."

BILL: "You have won this race before, you would love to win it again."

DERRIKE: "Absolutely. This race is the epitomy of the sport. I don't care what anyone else says, this is the one you want to win, this is the one you gotta win to make your career complete. We've already done it once, we want to do it again."

Among the three practice sessions during the day, Derrike posted the third fastest time with a speed of 190.355 mph and the fastest Pontiac.

Note: Thanks to Patty Leizear for the interview.

In first round qualifying to determine the two top positions in the Daytona 500, Derrike posted a time of 47.215 and speed of 190.617 which was the 7th fastest in qualifying.

Derrike commented on various items:

The Qualifying Run: "This Gumout team has had its act together all week and we proved it here today."

Now What? "We are going to start working on drafting and getting ready for the Thursday qualifying race. Now that qualifying is over I can start concentrating on what I do best and that's getting the Gumout Pontiac ready to win races."

How Would Winning This Daytona 500 Compare to Your 1990 Victory? "In my opinion, for as much grief as I took after the first win, this win would solidify the fact that the first win wasn't a fluke. Even though we did win at Dover that year. In a lot of people's eyes that Daytona win may have been a bit tainted, but not in my eyes. I'd like to win it again obviously, that is the biggest thing that can happen to you in this sport. I don't care how we would win it even if it were by gas mileage. A second time around, going out and flat whipping would definitely be rewarding."

Goals for 1998 Daytona 500 "To win the race, period. We are capable of running up front. We aren't going to take any unnecessary risks out there, because we want to finish well and start the season right. I can win this race."

Bahari Racing Versus Previous Teams? "This team is prepared as any team I have ever seen. We have a very methodical approach. We always have a back-up plan. We left Daytona with a lot of speed in the car and went to Talladega where we didn't work on speed as much as we did just enhance what we already had. But, testing is over. We are at Daytona and it's time to see what we have."

The Orlando Sentinel had a nice article about Derrike before the Daytona 500.

Gatorade Twin 125's
In the first Gatorade Twin 125, Derrike started 4th. This is where he was during the 50 lap race:

• 3rd position - lap 5
• 7th - lap 18
• 4th - lap 23
• 6th - lap 33
• 4th - lap 35

Derrike held on to 4th place until the last lap when he fell to 6th. This will put him in a starting position in the Daytona 500 of 11th place.

Bob, Glenn, and Helen Cope were at Happy Hour and reported the following:
Derrike was in and out a few times during Happy Hour. He mostly did tire checks and only once did a plug check. He was very pleased with the way the car handled when he was following someone. But when he got in front, the car was very loose. At one point they changed all four tires to make sure it wasn't the tires causing the problem. The team also considered taking some tape off.

For the most part, the groups of cars out there were very aggressive. Derrike and a few other drivers decided to stay out of those groups because they thought something might happen and they didn't want to take a chance. Derrike commented at one point that he was very pleased with the speed of the car.

Derrike Cope started the race in 11th position. This is where he was during the race among the 43 cars:

• 5th position - lap 8 of 200
• 3rd - lap 19 (on lap 30, it was reported that the Gumout Pontiac was pushing)
• 2nd - lap 47 (Derrike pitted right behind leader Dale Earnhardt on lap 58 and both came out at the same time)
• 12th - lap 66
• 6th - lap 93
• 12th - lap 102 (Green flag pit stop on lap 108. When Derrike was pulling out of his pit stall, #99 Jeff Burton whose pit was in front of Derrike's, decided to go through Derrike to get to his pit stall, and hit Derrike in the right front fender. This caused considerable damage to the car and required Derrike to pit a few times to repair it.)
• 35th - lap 116 (2 laps down, lap 118 had to come back into the pits to continue repairing the front fender)
• 40th - lap 135 (5 laps down)
• 37th - lap 118 (8 laps down)

Derrike finished the race in 37th position, 9 laps down.

The 15-year veteran might not have won Sunday's Daytona 500. He didn't even finish the way he and his Bahari' Racing teammates expected to finish. But, what Cope and Bahari take from Sunday's performance in the sport's most prestigious race is the knowledge that the Gumout Pontiac is as good if not better than any other in the 43-car field.

Cope began the race at the top of the grid and immediately demonstrated his ability to race and pass the leaders in the tightly packed draft. Cope ran with eventual race winner Dale Earnhardt frequently passing the 7-time champion and at one point climbing to second place.

Cope stayed in the draft and planned to stay there until the final laps, but a pit lane collision on lap 108 with Jeff Burton damaged the Gumout car's right front tire and fender dropping him several laps behind the leaders and eliminated his chances to duplicate his 1990 Daytona victory.

"Like usual, I had a good opportunity to be there at the end ... and it was doused early by somebody else," said Cope, who finished 37th. "I don't understand what happened. Burton got hit or ticked off or something and went left into me. It took us out of the race."

Cope returned to the track and logged enough laps to post a 37th-place finish.

The Gumout Pontiac returns to action on Friday in Rockingham, North Carolina.

Angela Walker attending the first round qualifying and provided a live report. Jim Hartsell was at the Daytona 500 and provided a live report.