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Dura-Lube/Big Kmart 400February 21, 1999
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(Feb. 17, 1999) -- After two pressure packed weeks at Daytona, there will be a more relaxed Derrike Cope at North Carolina Speedway this weekend when the 1990 Daytona 500 champion makes his debut in the Bryan Pontiac for Sunday's Dura-Lube/Big Kmart 400 at North Carolina Speedway. Bryan Foods is one of four Sara Lee companies rotating as primary sponsors of Chuck Rider's Bahari' Racing team. The other companies are Jimmy Dean, State Fair and Rudy's Farm. Cope struggled in qualifying and was in danger of missing the Daytona 500 until he drove a masterful twin 125-mile qualifying race, finishing 10th. In the 500, he was running 14th on the lead lap when a tire blew. Cope skillfully avoided the wall, but lost a lap while his Dan Glauz-led crew applied fresh rubber. Over the final 375 miles, Cope ran with the leaders, however, a lap down. At one point he came within passing two cars of regaining his lap, but couldn't get any closer. He finished 18th, but heartened by the performance. "It was a good effort," Cope said. "It's unfortunate we had that flat, otherwise, we would have had a top-10 car. Closer to the end of the race we got out of the way of the leaders and let those guys race. We didn't want to cause them any misfortune." Two of Cope's 32 career top-10 finishes have come in this race. He finished eighth in the 1995 500-mile version of this event and eighth in the shorter 400-mile race in 1996. Cope says drivers have a more relaxed attitude following the two intense, exhaustive weeks at Daytona. "You go to Daytona with such anticipation," Cope said. "Depending on how you perform, it can become really pressure packed. As much as I like racing there, it's nice to get it over with and get back to racing like normal. Everybody is on edge at Daytona. Rockingham kind of marks the start of the rest of the season where everyone looks at it like we're back to business as usual." Cope, who finished 15th in this race last year, is ranked 18th in the NASCAR Winston Cup point standings. After only one race, that surpasses his peak in the driver standings last season. "I'm planning to continue that trend in the Bryan Pontiac," Cope said.
The team was planning on using their own motors for qualifying and the race. In the first practice on Friday morning, Derrike was 44th fastest of the 47 drivers with a time of 24.095 and speed of 151.948. In the second practice, things picked up as Derrike was 24th fastest with a time of 23.718 and speed of 154.363. Rain delayed qualifying on Friday and in qualifying on Saturday morning the Bryan Pontiac could only produce a time of 23.620 and speed of 155.004. After provisionals were used, this put Derrike in 44th position and failing to make the race.
ROCKINGHAM, N.C. (Feb. 20, 1999) -- Derrike Cope put his foot to the floor and got some more speed out of his car during qualifying for the Dura-Lube/Big Kmart 400 at North Carolina Speedway, but it still wasn't enough to get the Bryan Pontiac in the starting field. Cope picked up two tenths of a second on his qualifying run compared to his final practice speed on Saturday morning. Unfortunately, his car slid up the track between turns one and two, costing him precious time. Cope toured the 1.017-mile superspeedway at 155.004 mph, good enough for 37th. Friday's time trials were rained out, meaning only one round of qualifying on Saturday. The top 36 cars made the starting field, plus seven provisional starters. "We pushed in one and two," Cope said. "I got through three and four well, but we were still too far off. We just didn't make it. It's disappointing and I hate it for Bryan since they were debuting on the car this week." Bryan Foods is one of four Sara Lee companies serving as rotating sponsors on Chuck Rider's Bahari' Racing Pontiac. The others are Jimmy Dean, State Fair, and Rudy's Farm. Cope is 40th in the NASCAR Winston Cup point standings, but still less than 100 points out of the top 20. Next up for the team is the March 7 Las Vegas 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. |
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