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Pontiac Excitement 400June 6, 1998
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(June 2, 1998) -- Gumout Pontiac owner Chuck Rider has long admired the grace and speed of the cheetah, so he incorporated it into the Bahari' Racing logo long ago, but it's impossible to house one as the team's mascot.
Baxter was atop his perch inside the Mooresville-based shop again Tuesday, quietly grooming himself as the team prepared the Gumout Pontiac for Saturday's Pontiac Excitement 400 at Richmond. So quiet, in fact, it's easy to miss the bright-colored bird except for the crewmen that can't resist ruffling his chest feathers as they walk past or feeding him anything from hot wings to ice cream. While teasing draws a squawk and perhaps a threatening snap of his beak, food elicits a blown kiss or hearty "hello." "The guys give him a hard time on a good, regular basis," Parlato said. "But there are two rules. No dirty words and no chocolate. The guys are real good about following them." It's been a tough season at Bahari' Racing and Baxter is good at helping keep morale up. Gumout Pontiac driver Derrike Cope ran as high as second in the season-opening Daytona 500 and led the Primestar 500 at Atlanta before crashes not of his making ruined the strong runs. Cope broke two ribs in the Atlanta crash and is just recently fully recovered. Rider marvels at his crew's resolve through the trying times. Baxter helps. Parlato isn't surprised with the bird's positive contribution to morale. "He sure tries," Parlato said. "The one thing about animals is that they are very seldom depressed. If you keep them in a light atmosphere, they're always on the ready. He's always ready to play and be aggressive. He jokes around with the guys. They come around and harass him on a regular basis. He definitely can lighten the mood around here." Parlato, his wife Robin and daughter Crystal, house more than 100 animals on what is dubbed their "Funny Farm" in Catawba County. The animals range from common horses and sheep to exotic Australian flying squirrels and even an eight-foot long albino Burmese python that stays in Crystal's bedroom. The family brings the animals to schools and churches for educational and charitable programs. "Our animals are handled by a lot of people and they have to have an attitude and disposition that is compatible to what we do," Parlato said. "For instance, we had a wolf that slept with the lamb. We had a lion that curled up next to the dogs and the deer. That kind of thing. They all seem to get along and that's another reason why they call it the 'Funny Farm.'" Parlato says they've had Baxter since "he was right out of the egg." When Parlato was hired by Bahari' last year, he immediately began to bring Baxter along to work. He sits atop a wooden perch in the fabricating area. "She's only taken one flight and ended up in the paint room," Parlato said. "We bring Baxter down here to keep him used to people. Macaws are naturally rather aggressive. We keep him around a lot of different people so he gets used to them. He'll sit on anyone's arm without ripping their clothes off or taking a big chunk out of their arm or something like that." And Baxter knows the pecking order around at Bahari', according to team marketing director Rick Carpenter. "He doesn't do much when Chuck comes by," Carpenter joked. "He just bows."
The Gumout Pontiac finished first round qualifying with a time of 22.040 and speed of 122.505. This left the team in 41st position among the 45 cars. The team ended up having to take a provisional in order to make the race, so Derrike will start in 43rd position.
Derrike started the race in 43rd position. This is where he was among the 43 cars:
Derrike finished the race in 34th position, 10 laps down.
(June 6, 1998) -- Gumout Pontiac driver Derrike Cope rallied from his 43rd starting position to move as high as 21st midway through Saturday night's Pontiac Excitement 400 before a late spin in oil laid down on the track relegated him to a 34th-place finish. Cope had to take a provisional to make the race, but his performance improved dramatically by race time. Crew chief Doug Hewitt and Cope made some good calls to the chassis and Cope passed cars with regularity through the first 200 laps. But after a tire change, Cope's Pontiac tightened and he lost a lap. In the closing laps, Cope spun in oil put down by Kevin LePage's Chevy. Since the team couldn't improve on their position, they loaded the Gumout Pontiac up with eight laps remaining. "We were going along pretty good from the start, but we still got a lap down and a lot of that was just from starting so far back," Cope said. "After the first pit stop we had a tight set of tires and lost another lap. At the end there I got in the oil up there and got in that wreck. We couldn't gain any more spots, so we decided to save the car and pull it on in." Owner Chuck Rider's Gumout Racing team returns to action Sunday in the Miller Lite 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
J. Seravalli and Dean Zimmer were at the race and provided live reports. J.'s Report, Dean's Report |
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That unofficial title goes to "Baxter," a three-year-old, blue-and-gold
macaw. Since fabricator Joe Parlato was hired a year ago, his bird has served as somewhat
of a mascot for one of Pontiac's longest running teams. 
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