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Pocono 500June 21, 1998
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(June 17, 1998) -- Monitoring times on a computer inside his racing transporter, a scowl overtook Derrike Cope's face when he realized the Gumout Pontiac wasn't going to qualify for last Sunday's race at Michigan Speedway. Exiting the rig, he looked at wife Renee and said quietly, "Let's go home." Qualifying has become a gut-wrenching experience for nearly every team in NASCAR Winston Cup racing. Only four teams haven't had to use provisional spots this season. Even past champions aren't immune to an inglorious, early exit. Three-time title winner Darrell Waltrip failed to make the field at Charlotte Motor Speedway last October. The setback has Cope, and owner Chuck Rider's entire Bahari' Racing team fighting mad as they prepare for the qualifying process again Friday at Pocono Raceway. At risk is a starting position in Sunday's Pocono 500. "It really ticks me off, to be honest," Cope said. "If you look back through my career I haven't missed very many races. I feel like I'm a good qualifier and I pride myself on that. When I make a mistake, don't get enough out of the car, or we collectively just don't get it done, it really does bother you and you come back with a vengeance. You have to take the attitude, 'This crap isn't going to happen to me again.' At the same time, you can't go in there and overdrive it. You've got to go out and be smarter and more precise. You have to put yourself in position not to have problems or make mistakes. It comes down to focus. You have to have more discipline. That's the key for us right now, displaying those attributes." Cope is 39th in the point standings and can't count on the luxury of a provisional spot to make a race. That makes his margin for error in qualifying even more thin. "It's not easy," Cope said. "Obviously, going home from one of these events is probably the most devastating thing that can happen to you. You feel like you should be there. I don't feel like those people are better than I am. We made a mistake and didn't get the quick lap we needed out of it. The only difference was that we weren't by far the worst car there, but we had no provisional to fall back on because of where we are in points. "We have to be a lot more on our game. We have to be a lot more precise in our processes for qualifying and try to minimize the amount of mistakes that we can possibly make. There's a lot more pressure on you. You can't really put yourself in a position to go for poles when you're trying to make sure you don't make a mistake. The whole process is different when you're behind in the points." Most of Cope's problems can be traced to a crash in the March 9 Primestar 500 at Atlanta that left him with two broken ribs. He aggravated his injuries when he crashed on a seeping, wet surface at Texas Motor Speedway during a qualifying session that NASCAR aborted after nine cars attempted runs. NASCAR didn't allow those teams to re-qualify the next day, so Cope missed the race. He's been unable to recover from that setback in the point standings. "Being honest, we really just need to find a place where we can have some modest success," Cope said. "That would hopefully turn the tide for us. It's been a struggle as of late. I think primarily it's a matter of getting our qualifying efforts better. If we can just get back to where we were earlier in the season and make the top-25 each week, obviously, I think our race setups and our races on the track have been productive." Once in the show, Cope feels he can make some noise at Pocono. "Pocono is one of those places that I have a good feel for," Cope said. "I know what I want there. I know the feel I want there. You really have to get off the last turn. Turn three leads to the long straightaway, so it's really imperative that you get off that corner well. Your performance at Pocono is dictated on how the car works. If the car isn't working to your liking you're not able to utilize certain parts of the race track you may have a feel for. A lot of it is going to be dictated on how well the car works and the right combination we can come up with. I feel like we're taking a good car there. Hopefully, we'll be in the hunt from the start and build from what we get started with."
First round qualifying did not work as expected for the Bahari' Racing team. Derrike entered the track as the 31st car and came out as the 31st slowest with a time of 55.077 and speed of 163.408. At the end of the first round, the team was left in 44th position of 45 cars. The team ended up having to take a provisional to make the show and Derrike started the race in 41st position.
Derrike started in 41st position and this is where he was during the race among the 43 cars:
Derrike finished the race in 26th position, 6 laps down. Derrike was able to move one spot up in the point standings to 38th. Note: Thanks to Jeff Gutshall for helping with the TV report.
(June 20, 1998) -- After charging from a 41st-place provisional start to 30th early in Sunday's Pocono 500, Gumout Pontiac driver Derrike Cope was swept into a crash but still recovered to finish 26th at Pocono Raceway. Cope was running well on the lead lap when Geoff Bodine's motor blew on lap 59. Cope ran low to avoid getting in Bodine's oil. Unfortunately, Ernie Irvan took the low line as well and thought he had Cope cleared. Irvan's Pontiac slammed into Cope's Grand Prix just as he was entering pit road. Cope's Pontiac sustained heavy damage. Crew chief Doug Hewitt supervised repairs to the car's suspension, sheet metal and fresh tires. All the work cost Cope six laps to the competition. He never lost a lap while at speed during green flag runs. Had Cope finished on the lead lap, he would have finished no worse than 22nd. "It's unfortunate," Cope said. "We had a productive run going. I was able to pass some cars and things looked promising. The guys worked really hard to make the repairs and we still ran pretty decent after the accident. If we could just run a whole race without getting an accident not of our making I think we could get a decent finish." Cope rose from 39th to 38th in the NASCAR Winston Cup point standings. Next up for owner Chuck Rider's Bahari' Racing team is the Save Mart/Kragen 350 at Sears Point Raceway this Sunday.
Bob Pristash, Mike Steele, Lee Daniels, and Mike Puckett were at the race and provided live reports. Mike Puckett's Live Report, Lee Daniels' Live Report, Mike Steele's Live Report, Bob Pristash's Live Report |
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