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NAPA 500November 8, 1998
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(Nov. 2, 1998) -- Gumout Pontiac driver Derrike Cope returns to the site of the defining moment of his NASCAR Winston Cup season when he hits Atlanta Motor Speedway for Sunday's NAPA 500. It was at Atlanta in the March 9 Primestar 500 that Cope careened into the turn four wall after a tire blew on the Gumout Pontiac. The savage hit broke two of Cope's ribs and left him battered and bruised for much of the season. The injuries were aggravated three weeks later when he crashed while trying to qualify on a wet track at Texas Motor Speedway. It's just in the last two months or so Cope has felt completely recovered. Cope's results are indicative of his renewed health. In the last two months, Cope earned a pole at Charlotte and three additional top-10 qualifying efforts. He's also posted his best two finishes of the season over that span -- a 14th at Charlotte and 11th at Talladega. He finished both races on the lead lap. Those are the kind of results Cope was looking for when he joined Chuck Rider's Gumout Racing team. "It's definitely been a year of uncharted territory for Chuck and myself," Cope said. "Being hurt to the degree I was really limited us. It's been a difficult year. I broke a couple of ribs and injured my sternum and hurt my shoulder blade and tore muscles. I reinjured everything at Texas and tore the muscles loose again. That was really the devastating part there. But about two months ago I really started feeling better and started working out with no pain. Right now I feel really good and confident in the race car. I feel like I'm back pretty good." Cope has found Atlanta's redesigned layout to his liking. He was fifth in last year's NAPA 500 and led four laps under green at the 1.54-mile superspeedway last spring before his crash. "I really like the grip Atlanta has now," Cope said. "You can really manipulate the car and drive it hard. Despite that crash, I feel good about going back there." Atlanta will also be the last race with the team for long-time crew chief Doug Hewitt. He announced recently he would be joining Petty Enterprises after six years with Bahari' Racing.
In practice before qualifying, Derrike was 15th fastest of 48 drivers with a time of 28.982 and speed of 191.291. In first round qualifying, Derrike was the 20th driver out on the track and went right to the top in the number 1 position with a time of 28.886 and speed of 191.927. The provisional pole didn't last long though as Mark Martin, the next qualifier, took it away. After his lap, Derrike said, "I knew it could have been great going in through turn one. I had a good lap through there, so I drove off into three down here and it started to leave the bottom so I knew it wasn't going to be a pole because I had to crack the throttle or just kind of squeeze back. Your toes kind of curl, you know, that's all it is. It wasn't enough for a pole. I know the Jimmy Dean, Bryan Foods, and State Fair folks are all back there watching and keeping tabs on us so it is a good effort. I wouldn't say this track owes me. It was a little mean to me last time, but it was awfully good to me the time before that when I finished fifth. We can have a good run here, hopefully stay up front all day, and be in a position to win this thing." At the end of the round, Derrike pulled off another top 10 and will start the race in 6th position.
Further comments from Derrike: "I was wide open through turns one and two and I really went for it in three and four and it started pushing. It was good down in turn one, good grip and it was free up off. I got down in turn three and it started to push. I had to get off the throttle coming off. The cars are much more stable with the new rules. You feel like you're manipulating the race car. You feel like you're driving the race car rather than it driving you. "You want the cars to have some sense of grip. I think we've been deficient in that area in comparison to some of the other makes, especially the Ford and especially in traffic. What these new rules do is create a little bit better balance for the Pontiac. When you untape the Pontiac, the car gets lift. We're hoping this will give us some sense of grip and get us back to where the drivers can manipulate the race car and not being manipulated. I still think that's the best thing that can happen right now. We've got a lot of spoiler. We've got a little bit of an imbalance. We were taped up solid in qualifying and still pushing off the corner. We have some things to look at. We have to reevaluate our shock package a little bit. We've got a lot of fender on this thing, too, so we're going to have to take a long look at what we have and then make some adjustments."
In the first practice on Saturday, Derrike was 41st fastest with a time of 29.977 and speed of 184.941. In Happy Hour, he was 22nd fastest with a time of 29.747 and speed of 186.371.
Derrike started the race in 6th position. This is where he was during the race among the 43 drivers:
Derrike finished the race in 30th position on the lead lap.
(Nov. 8, 1998) -- Gumout Pontiac driver Derrike Cope kept his qualifying tear alive, but couldn't meet with the same kind of racing success in Sunday's NAPA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Cope earned his fifth top-10 qualifying run in his last nine attempts with a strong sixth-place showing in Friday's time trials. But after getting tapped from Mark Martin's Ford at the beginning of the race, Cope fell back into the pack. The race was twice delayed due to rain and resumed under the lights. The scheduled 325-lap race was shortened to 221 laps for another approaching rain storm. When NASCAR told the teams there would be a 25-lap shootout to the finish, several teams took on only two tires during a mandatory pit stop, including the Gumout Racing team. Crew chief Doug Hewitt's strategy paid off as Cope rose to 16th in the running order. But he wasn't able to maintain that position and finished 30th. "I had the pedal mashed to the floor all night," Cope said. "The Gumout Pontiac just didn't have the get up and go. I'd like to thank Doug Hewitt for all he's done for this team. I really enjoyed working with him. We've got some changes to make and hopefully, we'll have a little luck next year. We sure didn't have any this year." Cope finished the season 37th in the NASCAR Winston Cup point standings. |
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