Winston 500

October 11, 1998
Talladega, AL

(Oct. 5, 1998) -- Fresh off his shocking pole run and best finish of the season at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Gumout Pontiac driver Derrike Cope hit Daytona International Speedway Monday for two crucial days of testing.

After leading six laps, Cope finished 14th on the lead lap last Sunday in the UAW-GM Quality 500 and believes Chuck Rider's Bahari' Racing team is capable of making even more noise in Sunday's Winston 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

"Maybe this can take us over the top," Cope said after showing competitive muscle at Charlotte. "The guys have wanted to go in there and prove we are better than we have been. It slowly is coming around. The fact that we've done it now means a lot. We know we can. We know when we have the right tools and the right motor and the right car, the right combination, it can happen. It instills confidence and belief in their ability. I hope this takes us where we can use it to carry on and get better."

Cope has been at his best in the previous two restrictor plate races this season. In the season-opening Daytona 500, he was hot on the heels of leader and eventual winner Dale Earnhardt when he was caught up in a freak accident on pit road. Cope ran as high as fourth in April's DieHard 500 at Talladega before getting collected in a multi-car crash.

Cope's solid performance in those two races is why crew chief Doug Hewitt wanted to test in Daytona. The next two races are at Talladega and Daytona. If Cope's potential can match performance in the next two races, the Gumout Racing team can establish some momentum heading into the 1999 season.

"I think all of us are looking forward to the two restrictor plate races," Cope said. "Hopefully, we'll go to Talladega and continue the momentum with a productive run. We were strong at both Daytona and Talladega earlier this year and our test this week gives us even more of a baseline to draw from. With as well as we ran in the speedway races, we can come into this race with more confidence."

And high hopes.

In practice, the Gumout Pontiac was the 35th fastest. Derrike took the track as the 33rd of 49 drivers. His first lap was a time of 50.335 and speed of 190.245. He picked it up a little on the second lap with a time of 50.050 with a speed of 191.329 which put the Gumout Pontiac in 23rd position at the time. At the end of the round, Derrike was left in 35th position.

In second round qualifying, Derrike Cope led the round to claim the 26th starting position for this weekend's race. The team was one of 13 teams to make a second qualifying attempt for Sunday's race. Derrike posted a lap of 193.201 mph. If he had produced that performance in first-round qualifying, he would have been in the 19th starting spot. The team was able to pick up the extra speed by changing the carburetor used.

In Happy Hour, Derrike was 11th fastest. He was also involved in an incident at the end of Happy Hour with Geoff Bodine that caused Bodine to spin. The announcers and Bodine all speculated that Derrike had tapped Bodine in the rear causing him to spin.

Derrike replied, "I had a run going, and there was a lane open on the bottom. Geoff came down on me going into the trioval and I ran down on the apron to miss him. He kept coming down and I put on the brakes and moved over even more. It must have taken the air off his car because we never touched and he just lost it and spun out." The Gumout Pontiac was unmarked which provided further proof.

Alec Bell, a three-year-old boy with cerebral palsy who lives in Sylvania, Ala., got to visit with his NASCAR hero, Derrike Cope, on Saturday Oct. 10th at Talladega. Bell and his family were treated to a limousine ride to the track by Bahari' Racing associate sponsor Jimmy Dean Foods, which serves as the national sponsor for United Cerebral Palsy. Earlier this year Derrike donated some autographed caps and sheet metal to a benefit auction for Alec that raised more than $10,000. His condition has improved since he began hyperbaric oxygen treatments enabled by the donations, and Derrike was elated to hear the news and to finally get to meet his special fan.

Bahari' Racing owner Chuck Rider continued to drop cryptic hints about the sponsorship future of his team, which is not scheduled to be backed by Gumout beyond the end of this season. "We're excited about the association with the Sara Lee Corporation and with Bryan Foods," Rider said on Saturday morning at an announcement of a scholarship program backed by his team's associate sponsor. "We're looking ahead to a major announcement. This is not the right time to make it but we're looking ahead to it and we're excited about it."

Derrike started the race in 26th position. This is where he was during the race among the 43 drivers:

• 22nd position - lap 7 of 188
• 25th - lap 22
• 34th - lap 38
• 22nd - lap 60 (good pit stop during the first caution)
• 32nd - lap 87
• 22nd - lap 105
• 10th - lap 116 (Green flag pit stops were happening and then the caution came out. Derrike was one of the cars that had not pitted yet which gave them an advantage.)
• 12th - lap 123
• 2nd - lap 138 (major wreck on lap 136 but Derrike was able to get through safely)
• 1st - lap 139
• 4th - lap 146 (Led about 6 laps during the caution. On the restart, the car just did not have the power to stay at the front.)
• 6th - lap 152
• 13th - lap 157
• 11th - lap 180

Derrike finished the race in 11th position on the lead lap. This is the second race in a row where the Gumout Pontiac was able to finish on the lead lap and also marks the second race in a row in which the team posted their best finish of the season.

(Oct. 11, 1998) -- For the second consecutive race, Gumout Pontiac driver Derrike Cope scored his best finish of the season with an 11th-place run in Sunday's Winston 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Cope, the second-round fastest qualifier, started 26th. His team used good fuel mileage to gain track position and actually take the lead for six laps (139-144) in the 188-lap race. He ran in the top-10 through some of the second-half of the race before settling for 11th.

"The carburetor we chose for fuel mileage hurt us a little speed-wise," Cope said. "But at the same time, we gained track position with our gain on gas mileage, and ultimately, that helped us get a good finish. We'll put the other carburetor on for Daytona and go for it."

Cope was coming off a 14th-place run and his first-ever pole position in the UAW-GM Quality 500. Now the Gumout Racing team is hopeful of another strong run at Daytona in Saturday night's Pepsi 400. Cope ran as high as second in the season-opening Daytona 500 when he was collected in a freak pit road accident.

"We've been working a lot of hours and the guys have been working real hard to try and get better," crew chief Doug Hewitt said. "We can go home, clean up the Gumout Pontiac, paint the nose and take this same car back to Daytona. We learned some stuff about this car today, so hopefully that will make us better next week."

Cope remains 37th in the point standings.