Pepsi 400 presented by DeVilbiss

August 16, 1998
Brooklyn, MI

(Aug. 11, 1998) -- Few drivers are immune from the gut-wrenching agonies of attempting to qualify for a NASCAR Winston Cup race these days, and Gumout Pontiac driver Derrike Cope is certainly no exception.

Most drivers have a crutch -- provisional starting spots to make the field. But Cope has already used six provisional starting spots this season, and because Bahari' Racing isn't in the top-25 in the point standings, he won't have the luxury of another until the Sept. 12 Exide 400 at Richmond.

"That makes it simple for us," Cope said. "We've got to be among the fastest 36 cars each week or we go home."

All but four drivers have had to use provisional spots this season. Cope has failed to make three races this season, although he wasn't allowed to qualify again on a wet track at Texas after crashing. In his last eight races, Cope has had to use four provisional spots and didn't qualify at Michigan and Indianapolis.

Sunday's race, the Pepsi 400, is at Michigan.

"We've had a tough time recovering since not making that race," Cope said. "Obviously, going home from one of these events is probably the most devastating thing that can happen to you. I don't feel like the other drivers are better than I am. We made a mistake and didn't get the quick lap we needed. 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 were in the points."

Bahari' Racing is busy rectifying the qualifying woes. Engine builder Ron Puryear is fine-tuning his motors. Crew chief Doug Hewitt is trying to schedule wind tunnel time with GM. The crew is modifying any Pontiacs not in sleekest form.

"When things are going bad you actually work harder," Hewitt said. "The better you run sometimes it doesn't seem like you work that hard. When you're not running up to speed you work more hours trying to sort things out. Everybody is trying to dig in and get more out of everything we can to get better. There's nothing else we can do."

In first round qualifying Derrike took the track as the 27th of 46 drivers and produced a time of 39.632 and speed of 181.671. This put the Gumout Pontiac in 10th position at the time. At the end of qualifying, the team had only dropped to a 14th starting position, something the team had not seen in recent weeks.

After qualifying, Derrike said, "We did a few things, we made some changes, and tried to find out where we're at and the car performed today. You have to take a look at where you're at and obviously you have to try some new things. We leased a motor and did some things there and tried to really learn where we're at and tried to get better."

Derrike started the race in 14th position among the 43 drivers. The team was hoping for good things including having an in-car camera from Siemens.

On lap 8, Derrike was hit from behind by Sterling Marlin causing Derrike to crash into Morgan Shepherd on his left. Both Derrike and Shepherd spun down into the infield. Derrike was able to drive the car away but many pieces were falling off the car and the team was done for the day.

Felix Sabates, owner of the Sterling Marlin car, ran down and apologized to Bahari' Racing owner Chuck Rider. Afterward, Chuck Rider said, "It's a shame. We pulled out all the stops this time. We had a qualifying engine from T&L, qualified 14th. And then I went ahead and leased the engine from Bobby Labonte's team that qualified on the outside pole. We were ready to have a good finish today. It just seems like the odds are against us right now, but I can assure you our team will not stop trying. It's a great team that we have here, Derrike can do the job, we just need to have that chance to prove that we can do it."

Derrike finished the race in 43rd position.

(Aug. 16, 1998) -- After qualifying a strong 14th, Gumout Pontiac driver Derrike Cope was spun out from behind early in Sunday's Pepsi 400 at Michigan Speedway and finished 43rd.

Cope and the Bahari' Racing team had high hopes after qualifying 14th in Friday's time trials. But while heading down the frontstretch on lap eight, Sterling Marlin suddenly popped Cope's Pontiac in the rear, sending it into the outside wall. Cope rebounded and tagged Morgan Shepherd's Chevrolet. The damage proved to be too much in order to continue.

"Things like that happen in racing," Cope said. "The car was pushing a bit and suddenly I got hit in the rear. There was nothing I could do. I hate it happened because we had a good weekend going."

Car owner Chuck Rider accepted an apology from Marlin's car owner, Felix Sabates, for the collision.

"We needed a good finish, but it just seems like the odds are against us right now," Rider said. "But our team will not quit."

Cope remained 37th in the NASCAR Winston Cup point standings.

Next up is the Goody's Headache Powder 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway Saturday night.

Jim Hartsell was at the race and provided a live report. Jim's Live Report