Daytona Testing Intervew

After the Daytona testing, Brian Hoagland interviewed Derrike on January 14th.

Note: Gumout Pontiac driver Derrike Cope will begin his first season with owner Chuck Rider's team in the Feb. 15 Daytona 500. Cope was fifth-fastest in GM testing at the speedway Tuesday with a speed of 188.482 mph. Cope, the 1990 Daytona 500 winner, has had a busy offseason, including a trip to England to share data information with a Formula One team in hopes of gathering Bahari' Racing's first-ever NASCAR Winston Cup victory this season.

DERRIKE COPE: "I'm absolutely delighted to be with this team. I feel very fortunate to have gone to a caliber team such as Bahari'. I think it was pretty evident last year I was not happy where I was at. I wanted out of there, and landed in a very good situation. Right now it looks like I made the right choice. We're really good here right now. We ran relatively fast right off the truck."

SITUATIONS IN THE PAST HAVE DICTATED YOU'VE HAD TO LEAVE TEAMS YOU'VE HELPED ESTABLISH. NOW YOU'RE WITH AN ESTABLISHED TEAM. HOPING TO SEE A PAYOFF?  "That's true. I really hope I don't have to make that decision again for a long time. Hopefully, I can stay here. I have a three-year commitment here. Obviously, I had a two-year commitment last year, but it didn't pan out. These guys have been together awhile. We seem to have a wealth of talent here. We've got three prior engine people, a couple of crew chiefs, two engineers. They're a very talented group and have a lot of depth. That's a key. I think it showed last year with the consistency that they had."

THERE ARE VERY FEW PRESENT DRIVERS THAT HAVE WON A DAYTONA 500. WHAT'S THAT FEELING LIKE?  "It's beyond compare. You can close your eyes right now and still feel the sun on your face from being in victory lane. That's how much of an impact this place has on you. It never leaves you. You can draw from that each time you come here. That's what I think is so remarkable about coming here, the fact that you know what you need, you know what it's like, you know that feeling, and you want to get back there very, very badly."

YOU ALSO KNOW IT'S 'NOT OVER UNTIL IT'S OVER.'  "That is correct. It's never 499 miles or whatever, it's always 500. So many things can happen. Since then I've run so well here. I've run up front in a lot of races. I've been taken out in wrecks and melees up front. I know I have the potential to be there again and put myself in position to win this thing again. By all indications right now, it looks like the Gumout Pontiac is going to be a factor."

TALK ABOUT YOUR OFFSEASON TRIP TO ENGLAND.  "I've created some alliances in England, and we're just looking at other ways to try and elevate the knowledge of the team and combine any kind of technology we can. I think Chuck and I looked at the situation, and we both felt like we had to find a way to win. We've been so close. Especially his operation, so close, so consistently, and it's just on the threshold and he can't seem to find a way to get over the hump. We're trying to do whatever we can. I know Chuck made some capital expenditures at Bahari' this year and has stepped up. We're doing a lot of things and are very progressive right now. The things in England that we did, a couple may initially show up, but I think a couple of years down the road some other projects that we have in mind will really help. It showed me how many capabilities Bahari' has as a race team.

"I really can't say who we worked with. But we were working with some people there on a lot of different areas, and really were astounded on a number of things. And then they were astounded, I think, at the same time, with the amount of machinery and capabilities we have at Bahari'. It was a very enlightening trip, period. I really enjoyed it. We jam-packed a lot of hours. I think we were up 36 hours total one time. Again, we're just looking for any and everything we can possibly do to get this team to victory lane. I think there's a good chance of that happening this year.

"You can draw a lot of parallels to what they're doing to over here. In talking with those people, they were very interested in what we're doing, and they saw a lot of the same things. A lot of it is relative. We're implementing a couple of things right now that we've seen can be a direct parallel. We're going to do some testing in Vegas with that. We'll see how it goes, and from there hopefully the other projects will make an enhancement also."

BAHARI' HAS ALWAYS HAD ONE OF THE STRONGEST PONTIAC RESTRICTOR PLATE PROGRAMS. DOES THAT EXCITE YOU?  "Very much so. You can see that by what we've accomplished in testing down here. We came down with a brand new Pontiac, and it unloaded off the truck exceptionally fast. We haven't really scratched the surface of the car. We're looking to do a lot more baselining. We're going back to Talladega next week to do some motor testing and some things aerodynamic-wise, so right now we're very optimistic. Hopefully, we can learn a lot and come back and have a very productive run."

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE NEW GM SB2 ENGINE?  "That's all we're running right now, the SB2. The motor has been very good as far as the numbers, and we're seeing a lot of things as far as how the motor pulls on gear changes. It accepts throttle very well, and I think that's a key for getting off pit road and getting up to speed. All indications are that they've done their homework in the shop there. I've been tickled to death the way the motor pulls off a gear change. Doug Hewitt has done a great job with this car's body, and right now we've got a great package."

Interview courtesy of Brian Hoagland