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Jiffy Lube 300July 12, 1998
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(July 7, 1998) -- Gumout Pontiac owner Chuck Rider is waging a daily battle to keep up with the multi-car teams that have such a stranglehold on NASCAR Winston Cup racing. In the past year alone, he's spent more than $1 million in elaborate machinery in an effort to keep Bahari' Racing competitive. Perhaps the crowning jewel of all the equipment is a unique machine that builds the valve seats in the cylinder heads. When Rider purchased the Newen GII seat and guide machine last October at a cost of $45,000, he was the first car owner to do so. "This thing really is cutting edge technology," operator Darren Fulk said. "It's far and beyond anything else on the market. I say that in respect to efficiency and accuracy. It's just an incredible machine." Fulk estimates the machine is 20 percent faster than its old counterpart still used by most Winston Cup teams. In addition, it can cut within ten thousandths of an inch of accuracy, besting the old machine's thousands of an inch exactness. Staying on top of cutting edge technology is a must in order to stay competitive in the age of the multi-car teams. "I think anyone in Winston Cup racing is going to continue to need to step up every month almost with something new," Rider said. "We're trying to stay atop the game. When you look at the top teams out there they're basically doing everything. They're building their own chassis, they're doing their own engine program and they have all the people to do the general assembly. We felt to move ourselves up to the next bracket we needed to do the same. We can actually make every piece that's on our cars, even the pedals." In addition to his purchase of the French-made Newen GII, Rider has also added three CNC machines. He's started an in-house chassis building program, headed by Steve Leavitt. Rider has also added a new 7,500-square foot building within the last year and the finishing touches are being made on a new machine shop. Resources like that enable driver Derrike Cope to feel good about his future at Bahari' Racing. It also gives him confidence that he can win a race at some point, including Sunday's Jiffy Lube 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway. "Chuck's really stepped up and made some big capital expenditures to bring in all this new equipment and that shows he's making a real commitment to improve this team," Cope said. "The multi-car teams have so many resources. We're a one-car entity and there aren't many teams out there that have what we have here. We've done a lot of things to try and take us through the next three to five years to where we can stay up there even if we are still a one-car entity at that point."
In first round qualifying Derrike produced a time of 30.915 and speed of 123.202. This put the Gumout Pontiac in 40th position among 44 drivers after the first round. In second round qualifying, the Gumout Pontiac had a time of 29.975 and speed of 127.066. This will put Derrike starting 29th in the race.
Derrike started the race in 29th position. This is where he was during the race among the 43 drivers:
Derrike finished the race in 16th position, 1 lap down. The finish was the team's second best finish of the season. It also allowed Derrike to move up one more notch in the point standings to 36th.
(July 12, 1998) -- Gumout Pontiac driver Derrike Cope rallied for his second- best finish of the season with a 16th-place run in Sunday's Jiffy Lube 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway. Cope's previous best finish was 15th in the second race of the season in the GM Goodwrench Service Plus 400 at North Carolina Motor Speedway. Cope, who started 29th, made a spectacular save less than 60 miles into the race when Lake Speed's Ford tapped his left-rear quarter panel. Cope swerved but gathered his Grand Prix to stay in the race. He made most of his headway in the second half of the race when he passed some 14 cars for position. "We really needed a productive run like this," Cope said. "We stayed out of trouble today and gained on it through the race. Doug Hewitt and the guys did a great job in the pits and made some efficient changes to the car. This is what we need to keep doing in order to stabilize ourselves in the points." Cope moved from 37th to 36th in the NASCAR Winston Cup point standings. Next up for owner Chuck Rider's Bahari' Racing team is the July 26 Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono International Raceway. Before then, the Gumout Pontiac Racing team will test this weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in preparation for the Aug. 1 Brickyard 400.
Jared Martin was at the race and provided a live report. Jared's Live Report |
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