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DieHard 500April 26, 1998
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After a one-race hiatus to heal his two broken ribs, Derrike Cope will make his return to the driver's seat in the Gumout Pontiac Friday when qualifying begins at Talladega Superspeedway for Sunday's DieHard 500. Cope sat out Monday's Goody's Headache Powder 500 at Martinsville Speedway to further rest his ribs. He watched the race on TV at his home in Cornelius, N.C., fidgeting as substitute driver Jeff Green fought his way to a respectable 17th-place finish. "I was right there with him trying not to get lapped and trying to get the cautions to fall right for us," Cope said. "It was still difficult. You hate not to be there. It was the best thing for me. I'm glad that weekend is over and we're only a couple of days away from going to Talladega. I hate to be on the sidelines. It was a great effort put in by the whole crew, and obviously, Jeff Green. They had a good finish and did exactly what we needed to have happen, get in the race and run productively and put points on the board. I was very pleased."
"I feel pretty good," Cope said. "A lot of the pain has left. I still have some soreness in my ribs, but that's going to be there for awhile. There's still a little stiffness in my neck but therapy has taken a lot of that out. I feel like by the time Thursday rolls around I'm going to be in pretty good shape. I'm just going to have to be careful with the ribs, that's the only thing. I feel like I can drive the car hard. My only worry is qualifying the car with the harsh shocks. Other than that, I feel good." Cope said sitting out Talladega would have been difficult. In the season's only other restrictor-plate race, Cope ran as high as second in the season- opening Daytona 500 before getting crashed in a freak incident on pit road. "My dad called last night and asked if I was maybe going to think about sitting out Talladega, and I said, 'Ain't no way. I'm going to be there,'" Cope said. "I've done all the sitting around I can do. I haven't done anything strenuous other than exercise to get some mobility, and some continuing therapy. Really, I've got to get back in the race car. We've got a good chance to win the race at Talladega. I felt like we were one of the cars to beat at Daytona. I feel like Talladega can be much the same." Cope is at his best at superspeedways, where both of his NASCAR Winston Cup victories have come. He'll compete in the same Pontiac that ran so well at Daytona. And has absence has lit an internal fire that can only be doused by a successful run at Talladega. "I think that any time I go to one of the speedways I definitely have a chance of winning that race," Cope said. "If they count us out then they'll be making a big mistake."
In Saturday morning practice, Derrike was the fastest car in the field with a speed of 194.806.
Derrike started the race in 7th position. This is where he was during the race among the 43 cars:
Derrike finished the race in 22nd position, 6 laps down.
TALLADEGA, Ala. (April 26, 1998) -- Gumout Pontiac driver Derrike Cope came tantalizingly close to writing a rags to riches story in Sunday's DieHard 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Returning from a one-race absence while mending two broken ribs, Cope ran as high as fourth in the NASCAR Winston Cup race and had his sights set on a victorious return. Unfortunately, the stellar run ended when he was collected in a horrific 20-car crash on lap 141 of the 188-lap race. He finished 22nd. Cope sat out last Monday's Goody’s Headache Powder 500. He sustained the injury in a crash during the March 9 Primestar 500. Cope earned the seventh starting position and worked himself up to fourth by the midway point of the race, drafting behind Terry Labonte, Jeff Gordon, and Bobby Labonte. He was eventually shuffled to eighth, and then 13th, but after a restart was gaining ground on the leaders. But down the frontstretch, a multi-car pileup ensued and Cope got caught up in the fracas. The race was red-flagged for 27 minutes. After that period, the Bahari' Racing team worked to repair heavy left-front damage to Cope's Pontiac. He lost five laps in the pits during lightning-quick repairs, but crew chief Doug Hewitt and his crew's hard work paid off when Cope was able to get back on the track. He finished six laps down to race winner Bobby Labonte. "We had a good run going," Cope said. "It was a great race car. We've really got our act together on the speedways. I got shuffled out of line one time and that hurt me. We still got back up there and I thought we were going to be in great shape and we just didn't miss the wreck." Cope came through the crash physically unscathed. "I didn't feel bad in the car," Cope said. "I'm a little stiff, a little sore in my shoulder, but other than that I feel good." Next up for owner Chuck Rider's Gumout Racing team is Sunday's California 500 at California Superspeedway.
Greg Leizear, Val Bernard, and J. Seravalli were at the race and provided live reports. Greg's Live Report, Val's Live Report, J.'s Live Report |
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Cope
broke his ribs in a crash in the March 9 Primestar 500 at Atlanta. Three weeks ago at
Texas Motor Speedway, Cope re-injured them when he crashed in a wet turn one during an
aborted time trial session. Cope and Bahari' Racing owner Chuck Rider decided it would be
best for Cope to sit out the race at Martinsville and have a full three weeks to
recuperate. 
In Friday morning practice, the #30 Gumout Pontiac was 11th fastest. In
first round qualifying, Derrike took the track and produced a time of 49.430 and speed of
193.729 which was good enough at that time for 6th position. At the end of the round, the
Gumout Pontiac was in 7th position where it will start Sunday's race for the team's best
starting position of the year.
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