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UAW-GM Quality 500October 4, 1998
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(Sept. 28, 1998) -- Gumout Pontiac driver Derrike Cope has endured a bumpy ride in his first season at Bahari' Racing, but after an intense three-day testing session at Charlotte Motor Speedway three weeks ago, Cope is looking for some smooth sailing in Sunday's UAW-GM Quality 500. "I was very pleased with our test there," Cope said. "I think we've got a gameplan. The car responded well and I think we learned some things. We mainly worked on geometry and aerodynamics. We then took both cars to the wind tunnel. The whole process was done to see where we were at. They're both new cars and we put a lot of different geometric combinations on them to see how they performed. The data from the wind tunnel gave us some parallels and some direction on where we need to go." Cope is still looking for his first top-10 finish of the season after battling through two broken ribs and other bumps and bruises sustained in a hard crash in March's Primestar 500 at Atlanta. He'll have to endure bumps of a different kind at Charlotte -- the infamous "Humpy Bumps" in turn four, named after track general manager Humpy Wheeler. "You really want to get through turn three and off of turn four good," Cope said. "I was really pleased with the balance we had during our test there with the way the car drove and felt and rode the bumps. Charlotte is all about getting the right balance in the car and getting through the bumps well in three and four. We're working hard in that area. Hopefully, we'll handle as well as we did in the test. If we do, I think we'll have a good effort." After qualifying eighth and third in his two previous races, Cope had to rely on a provisional spot last week at Martinsville. He believes Chuck Rider's Gumout Racing team will reestablish it's qualifying success at Charlotte. After that, he's hoping to transfer that momentum to race day. "Our qualifying has been a lot better lately and we've found a couple of things that have made a difference," Cope said. "We haven't raced as well as I would like. It's late in the season and a lot of people might think we're under a state of urgency, but we're not going to panic. We've got to continue to stay within ourselves and build on what we're learning in order to have some productive runs."
In practice on Wednesday before qualifying, Derrike was the 6th fastest with a time of 29.964 and speed of 180.216.
In first round qualifying, Fox Sports Network decided to take a commercial when Derrike took the track for his qualifying lap as the 41st of 48 drivers. They learned that was a mistake as Derrike took the track and ran a blistering lap of 29.721 and 181.690. This immediately put him on the pole position where he was able to stay the rest of the round. This marks Derrike Cope's first pole position in his Winston Cup career among 331 races. For the pole position, Derrike Cope was presented the Bud Pole Award for $5,000.
After qualifying, Derrike was interviewed. Here is a RealAudio clip of that interview.
Derrike commented, "I think you're always surprised because you have to put a perfect lap together. I think when we were here testing we brought two new cars and we tested very well and there were a lot of good cars here. Jeff (Gordon) was here, and I knew the laps we turned last night were very productive. I thought we could come back and match that and be close. In practice we were quick. I think we ran a .96 and I had to lift because I pushed. I knew I had something left if I didn't make any mistakes. It all came together for us and we had a good effort from everyone. "Typically, you see the track get faster (after sunset). Sometimes it's really hot and it cools off and the track tightens up a bit. I've seen it go the other way, too. From what I saw in testing here we tested pretty well in the sunlight and I did a run at six o'clock knowing that the sun was barely out and hoping I could simulate (conditions). I did one at nine o'clock and picked up almost three-tenths. I knew being a late draw and the sun having gone down, if I didn't make a mistake and overdrive the car we could run a (29).70. I knew it would take a .70 and I knew it would take a low .70. "It's definitely been a year of uncharted territory for Chuck and myself. Being hurt to the degree I was really limited us. A lot of things have been disruptive, and it's been a difficult year. It's really a lot more gratifying for me knowing my crew feels the way they do. Those are the guys that have to go through all the difficulty of putting the cars together again and having all the difficulties when you don't run well. They have to go to work every Monday morning and dig. They knew we had a shot at it and I knew that they knew. I really wanted it for them. When (crew chief) Doug (Hewitt) told me on the radio that we had it, I said, 'Well, that's great.' I was really tickled for all the guys more so than myself. One thing I do hate is that my wife (Renee) is not here. She's at the Rod Stewart concert. She missed this one, so I'm sure she'll be a little bit upset. I got hung out for Rod Stewart." Later, we learned more. Derrike Cope said his only regret about winning the UAW-GM Quality 500 pole was that his wife, Renee, was not at the track to see it. Instead of witnessing the first pole in her husband's 16-year Winston Cup career, Renee Cope was attending a Rod Stewart concert Wednesday night. As it turns out, Cope got even with his wife. "She was leaving the concert and got to the car and turned on the radio and heard a rundown and was all pumped up," he said. "She called me from the car phone, but I didn't answer the phone because I was watching the Yankees' game." Other website stories:
(AP) Pole-sitter Derrike Cope knows he won't be the main attraction in the UAW-GM Quality 500, and he's comfortable with that. When the green flag flies to begin Sunday's event at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the primary focus will be Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin, who trails him by 199 points atop the season driver standings with six races left. Cope, on the other hand, is in 37th place in the points, a distant 2,767 off the lead. While Gordon and Martin have combined to win 16 of the year's 27 races, Cope is still looking for his first top-10 finish. That kind of record prevents Cope from even considering a victory in the 334-lap event on Charlotte's 1.5-mile, high-banked layout. "Obviously, we haven't been that productive this season, and we're not quite ready to really win on all fronts yet," he said. "So if I could run up front for a while, and if I have to give the lead to Mark or whoever, if I can stay in the hunt, have some good, solid stops, good things all day long, we'll be in position to have a good effort. That's what our goal is." Cope had to scale back his goals for his first year driving for Chuck Rider because of a crash at Atlanta in March that left him with broken ribs and various other injuries to his torso and shoulders. He was in so much pain from the wreck that he was unable to do such basic tasks as bathing himself, having to rely on help from his wife, Renee. Cope had almost recovered completely by the time the circuit went to Texas the next month. But he wrecked again, aggravating many of the same injuries. "We were pretty deficient earlier in the year," he said. "Our motors weren't running well. Our cars weren't working well. I couldn't test anything. "We were so low. I just kept telling them, 'Stick it out. We'll get better. I'll get some time to test and I'll get to feeling better.' That's starting to happen. I get more satisfaction out of looking at those guys and seeing how excited they get. Our people haven't had that in a while." Cope, whose only two victories came in 1990, earned the first pole of his 16-year Winston Cup career with a fast lap of 181.690 mph in Wednesday's first round of time trials. His pole-winning run came in a twilight qualifying session, however, and the trick now will be to see if he can translate that to success during daylight hours, when Sunday's race will be run. He may have problems doing that, as evidenced by a late-morning practice Saturday. Cope had just the 37th-fastest speed of the 43 drivers, a lap of 174.763. "It slowly is coming around," Cope said. "Maybe this can take us over the top."
Before the race, Derrike informed us that the team had taken the engine from Happy Hour to the shop to rework it for the race. Thus, it will be interesting to see how the engine performs in the race. Derrike, of course, started the race in 1st position. He had an in-car camera too for the race. This is where he was during the race among the 43 drivers:
Derrike finished the race in 14th position on the lead lap. This was the team's best finish of the year and the first race in which the Gumout Pontiac finished the race on the lead lap. Editors note: I just wanted to make a comment on TBS's coverage of the race. They showed the field summary often which was great, although they rarely showed how many laps cars were down. After Derrike dropped back in the 'teens, they forgot all about him until later in the race. But I must commend them on their coverage of pit stops. The split showing of the three leaders on the left with the entire pit road on the right was what I have always hoped for to be used continually. This allows fans to follow their driver's pit stop rather than concentrating on only one or two drivers. TBS also seemed to show less commercials during the race than other networks have been showing.
(Oct. 4, 1998) -- After shocking the NASCAR Winston Cup world with a popular pole run, Gumout Pontiac driver Derrike Cope followed up with his best finish of the season in Sunday's UAW-GM Quality 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Cope finished 14th, holding off winner Mark Martin to finish on the lead lap for the first time this season. Cope led laps two through seven in the event. They were the first laps he's led since taking the point for four circuits in March's Primestar 500 at Atlanta. In that race, Cope sustained two broken ribs in a crash. "I was really driving my butt off in the closing laps to stay on the lead lap," Cope said. "I was doing everything I could do. I was driving the Gumout Pontiac as hard as I could drive it thinking of everything I could do and finally, it was just enough to hold him off. "It was a good effort for us. The car was really good early. This is something positive. It's a good finish. We didn't go backwards at the start, we stayed pretty well right there. Some good things happened to us for a change." Cope remains 37th in the point standings. In Wednesday night's time trials, Cope ripped off a lap of 181.690 mph to beat Martin for the pole. It was the first Winston Cup pole of his career. Cope has now won poles and races on both the Winston Cup and Busch Series levels. After a two-day test session at Daytona Monday and Tuesday, Cope and owner Chuck Rider's Bahari' Racing team will head to Talladega, Ala., for Sunday's Winston 500.
(AP) - Derrike Cope, the UAW-GM Quality 500 pole-sitter, achieved his goal Sunday with a solid finish. Cope led once for six laps, ran near the front for most of the 334-lap race at Charlotte Motor Speedway and wound up 14th, the last car on the lead lap. While it was not exactly an extraordinary achievement, Cope wasn't about to complain, especially considering the way things have gone in his first season driving for Chuck Rider. Cope has been injured in a pair of hard crashes and has not recorded a top-10 finish. With that in mind, he tried to be realistic about his chances in the race after his qualifying run put him on a pole for the first time in his 16-year Winston Cup career. "This is something positive. It's a good finish. We didn't go backwards at the start. We stayed pretty well right there," he said. "Some good things happened to us for a change, so it wasn't a bad effort. We'll take that and go on." Cope, whose only two Winston Cup victories both came in 1990, was trying to become the first driver to win the fall race at Charlotte from the pole since Harry Gant in 1982.
"We were looking for a top 15," Cope said. "We were better than that at times. Then we got behind in the weather. Every time we made a choice (in setup), the weather changed. We got caught with our pants down a couple of times. The guys got a lot of merit for what they did (with the car)."
Ron Cruse and Jeff Gutshall were at the race and provided live reports. Jeff's Report, Ron's Report |
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After
the lap, Derrike said, "We were fast in testing, we had a good car here and the motor
ran real well. We had a good lap in practice. I kind of lifted and pushed in practice so I
knew I had a chance at the pole. I just wanted to stay within myself and keep quiet about
it. We have a lot of people here. All the folks from Jimmy Dean are up in Chuck's (Rider)
condo and so is Suave and Degree and everybody else, so we had a lot of pressure on us and
we knew we had a shot tonight."
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