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Pennsylvania 500July 26, 1998
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(July 20, 1998) -- In addition to a three-day test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway that ends Tuesday, Gumout Pontiac driver Derrike Cope says Sunday's Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway will also serve as a learning curve for the Aug. 1 Brickyard 400. Cope sees several similarities between Pocono and Indianapolis, and likes the fact that Pocono's second race is right before the Brickyard 400. Pocono's long straightaways and flat surface are the closest thing on the circuit to Indy's 2.5-mile layout. "I think it's an excellent place for us to go to before Indy," Cope said. "It works both ways. To preface Pocono with a good test at Indy enables us to work some things out that we can take to Pocono. On the flip side of that, leaving Pocono with some quantifiable data on exactly how you fair with what you use enables you to take that back and make some changes that will enhance our package for Indy." Cope is coming off his second-best finish of the season in the Jiffy Lube 300 at New Hampshire. After qualifying 29th, Cope raced to a 16th-place finish. "I think we took some positive steps," Cope said. "We've had some meetings and we've got a gameplan together. We changed some things to put us back to basics and we went to New Hampshire with that and took some steps to get us back on solid ground. Now we've got to start a building process by getting several decent finishes in a row. That helps morale and gets everyone around to believing we can be competitive week in and week out. Luck played a factor in our run at New Hampshire, but we haven't had much of that, so it was welcomed." After a brush with Ernie Irvan's Pontiac led to him losing five laps in last month's Pocono 500, Cope held his own with the race's frontrunners and finished 26th. He never lost a lap while running. "We're testing three days at Indy, and a lot of that knowledge can help us at Pocono and give us an opportunity to really showcase ourselves in a lot finer fashion the second time around," Cope said. "We've gotten some good time on the race track at Indy and now we can go to Pocono, a place that I do like and hopefully get in a good, solid effort there and carry on the momentum."
In first round qualifying, Derrike was the 32nd driver on the track among the 46 drivers and produced a time of 54.750 and speed of 164.384. At the time it was only good enough for 27th. At the end of the round, the Gumout Pontiac had fallen to 41st position. The team ended up having to take a provisional to make the race, and Derrike will start in 41st position.
Derrike started the race in 41st position. This is where he was during the race among the 43 drivers:
Derrike finished the race in 23rd position, 1 lap down.
LONG POND, Pa. (July 26, 1998) -- Gumout Pontiac driver Derrike Cope rallied from his 41st provisional starting position to finish 23rd in Sunday's Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono International Raceway. Cope likely would have finished even better had it not been for a late-race crash that he was swept up in. Dale Earnhardt's Chevy bumped into Chad Little's Ford, which triggered a multi-car crash that took out pole-sitter Ward Burton and damaged Cope's left-front. Cope was saddled with a pit road speed infraction on the ensuing pit stop, a penalty of 15 seconds in the pits. Cope finished one lap down to winner Jeff Gordon. "We had a good run considering where we qualified," Cope said. "Once again we got involved in somebody else's grief. That stuff has bit us throughout the entire season. But we are pleased that we were able to run competitively in the race. I hope that's a good sign heading to Indianapolis." Cope rose from 37th to 36th in the point standings. Next up for owner Chuck Rider's Bahari' Racing team is Saturday's Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Cope had a three-day test session there July 19-21. |
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