Echo the Dolphin

When Jeff Cope, Carol Dignazio, Patty Leizear and her husband Greg were able to meet Derrike at the Winston Preview in January, Patty gave Derrike Echo and explained to him what Echo was for, and that he needed to put it in the car for good luck. His first response was, "My nieces will love this." Patty quickly corrected him though, that it had to stay with the team. Derrike thanked her and put Echo in the care of Rick Carpenter, Bahari' Racing team member. Rick ensured Patty that he would take good care of Echo. Patty suggested that Echo really should be kept in the Gumout car at all times, and Rick replied that Echo would at least be kept in the hauler.

So Echo quickly became adopted by the fan club members as the team mascot. Derrike saw the humor in the whole thing, and we keep hoping that Echo will bring him the luck he deserves. After the Daytona 500, we found out that Echo was indeed in the hauler during the race. We just wish he had made it to pit row to avoid that incident! Recently, Rick Carpenter told Patty that perhaps Echo could make a special appearance for the Charlotte race since we all would be there. We'll just have to wait and see.

When telling other fan club members about Echo, some members tried to be humorous about it saying that dolphins were good eating (right Jeff G.?).  Other friends piped in too with the same thought. One vocal friend was Skittles show car driver, Kevin Meador. Kevin got his due in Las Vegas though when a can of tuna showed up at his hotel.

(April 1, 1998) -- Echo the Dolphin has been reported missing. Latest rumor has it he has joined up with the #13 team of Jerry Nadeau. This team has the financial backing of Dan Marino, Miami Dolphins Quarterback. If the report is true, we believe that Echo must have felt better with one of his own. However, things are in the works to get Echo back. After all, he IS our official mascot! We must treat him better. If you have seen Echo, please persuade him to return.

Bahari' team member Rick Carpenter has confirmed that Echo has returned safely home to the Bahari' race shop. When questioned on his whereabouts, Echo was without comment. Rick has promised that he will safely deliver Echo to his rightful spot with the team in time for this Sunday's Texas race. We will deliver more news as we get it.

(April 4, 1998) -- Since the Gumout Pontiac did not make the Texas 500 race, Rick Carpenter was unable to deliver Echo safely back to the team in Ft. Worth. We have received footage from a security camera at a K-Mart showing Echo attempting to make the trek on his own. Please be warned that the footage contains graphic content and parental discretion is advised. Footage

(April 18, 1998) An emergency meeting of Beanie Babies was held yesterday. They have placed a bounty on #36 Skittles Pontiac show car driver Kevin Meador's head for $1 million. The world order of Beanie Babies take revenge on the attempted assasination of Echo.

Echo is alive and well, and has called on The World Order of Beanie Babies to help him in his cause. Check out the latest story on Echo the Dolphin. Echo Lives

(April 26, 1998) It was also confirmed that Echo was in the car at Talladega. He was in the radio box for practice and qualifying, and was strapped to the leg brace for the race. Even though the results of the race were not as hoped, Echo probably provided a little bit of his luck for his first race in the car to ensure that the Gumout Pontiac was not totally knocked out of the race.

(May 21, 1998) While in Charlotte, we discovered the true story of Echo the Dolphin. Echo rode in the car with Derrike at Talladega and was riding next to Derrike's left leg. The crash in Talladega occurred in the left front fender. In the next race at California, the team decided to let Echo ride in the trunk. The crash in California occurred in the rear of the car. It was decided at that point that Echo was not helping and was actually sabotaging the chances of the team.

Further investigation uncovered a plot that had started back in April at Texas. Apparently Kevin Meador had coerced Echo to change teams and the whole video of Kevin running over Echo was a fraud just to deceive the Echo fans. Echo stayed on the Bahari' team but was secretly a traitor providing bad luck.

Now that the story was uncovered, Echo met his final destination in Charlotte at a party of fan club member Angela Walker where barbecued dolphin was served to the crowd. This proved to be the final chapter in the Echo saga.

Epilogue: A plaque with a horseshoe was given to Derrike at the fan club meeting. Let's hope that this provides the good luck to the team.