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Pepsi Southern 500September 9, 1998
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Gumout Pontiac driver Derrike Cope isn't contributing to the growing suspicion in the NASCAR Winston Cup garage concerning Jeff Gordon's peculiar winning success with two-tire pit stops these days. Gordon has won five of the last six races and is the overwhelming favorite to win Sunday's Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway based on the fact he's won in four of his last six starts there. Cope, the 1990 Daytona 500 champion now driving for owner Chuck Rider's Bahari' Racing organization, says Gordon's domination isn't good for the sport. In the same breath, he also doesn't stop short of praise for the two-time Winston Cup champion. "I don't think you can take anything away from Jeff and his talents," Cope said. "Somebody asked me not too long ago that if I could have one single aspect of that team, Gordon, Ray Evernham, the Hendrick organization, pit crew, what would I take? I said, 'I'd take Jeff.' I think he's outstanding. I have a lot of respect for him. I think he's really talented. Obviously, he has a lot of other good attributes behind him and they have great things to compliment him, but I think you have to look at his ability to keep it up there week after week in the up front position, both qualifying and racing." As for those suspect two-tire pit stops and runaway victories? "I think they position themselves so that when they make a two-tire stop, a two-tire call, yeah, they're putting it in the hands of Jeff at that point, but they know if the car has been tight, they know it will free up with two tires," Cope said. "They know they're going to get a 10-second pit stop and they have prime pit location and they know they're going to get out first. They know they're going to have clear race track to work with those two tires. They are able to make calculated choices based upon their results of their group as a whole. "A lot of other teams could make that two-tire pit stop, make a call like that, and have a 15- or 18-second two-tire stop and not get the results they want. Gordon and his team have that belief they can make it happen. They put him out front and he has free reign. Jeff does the job. They're very talented in every aspect. Their cars work well, are consistent, the driver is confident, the pit crew is great and Ray makes great choices. There's no downfall to any aspect of their organization." Cope is hopeful of his own chances at Darlington. After all, two of his six career top-five finishes have come at the egg-shaped oval. "I've had good success at Darlington," Cope said. "I like the place. Some of my best finishes have come at Darlington other than wins. I have no qualms about going there. I don't feel too bad about the way we've been running lately. Our backs are against the wall and we've just got to take it in stride and keep going." While he likes running at the 1.366-mile superspeedway, Cope has vast respect for the track once dubbed "The Lady in Black." "At Darlington there's a fine line between racing against the competition and the track," Cope said. You have to separate the two. You obviously have to play strategy and watch where the leaders are at and what they're doing and be concerned, but at the same time, you really do have to watch the race track and drive within your means. If your car is not good enough, it can be a short day, and if you get down laps it can be a shorter day yet. You have to watch where you're at and drive within yourself. You have to be very smooth and consistent there. You can slow down to go faster at Darlington. It's a very unique place." And while Gordon will hit Darlington in the favorite role, Cope knows the times will change. "Year after year, you look at various drivers who are dominant for three or four years," Cope said. "Earnhardt's been there, David Pearson, Darrell Waltrip, whoever. You always have a team that's that far ahead and right now it happens to be Jeff. The worst thing about it is it could go on for a while. But all good things come to an end. I think you'll see some deterioration there at some point."
In first round qualifying Derrike took the track and produced a time of 29.550 and speed of 166.416. This was good enough at the time for 16th position. At the end of the round, the Gumout Pontiac had fallen, but not enough to miss the top 25, and landed in 22nd position where the team will start the race.
Derrike started the race in 22nd position. This is where he was during the race among the 43 drivers:
Derrike finished the race in 27th position, 6 laps down. It is unfortunate that the string of bad luck continued as the team was having an excellent run before the restart incident.
(Sept. 6, 1998) -- Gumout Pontiac driver Derrike Cope ran as high as 13th in Sunday's Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway before getting spun by another car with less than 150 laps remaining, relegating him to a 27th-place finish. Fighting 95-degree temperatures and a torrid pace set by leader Jeff Burton, Cope was running two laps down on a restart in the top-15 when contact from Ward Burton's Pontiac sent him spinning. Cope lost three laps while repairs were made in the pits. Cope was treated with oxygen after the race, but otherwise checked out fine. "John Andretti checked up in front of me on a restart and there was a chain reaction and I got the brunt of it," Cope said. "That took us out of having a top-15 day. We were good. Darlington is a tough place, and when we can run like that here you've got to feel good about it. If we just keep qualifying well and go racing we'll get our luck turned around." Cope qualified 22nd for the race. He remained 37th in the NASCAR Winston Cup point standings. Next up for owner Chuck Rider’s Bahari' Racing team is Saturday's Exide 400 at Richmond International Raceway.
Cyndi Price added the photos on this page. |
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green flag pit stops occurred before this)
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