Cracker Barrel 500

March 14, 1999
Hampton, GA

(March 9, 1999) -- Bryan Pontiac driver Derrike Cope is brimming with confidence despite the fact he heads back to the site of a devastating crash that was the defining moment of last year's difficult NASCAR Winston Cup season.

Cope led four laps under green before a right-rear tire blowout sent him smashing into the outer wall at Atlanta Motor Speedway in last March's race there. The hard hit broke two of Cope's ribs. He spent the night in a hospital as doctors kept him under observation.

Now Cope is set to return to Atlanta for Sunday's Cracker Barrel 500.

"A lot of people probably think I'm not looking forward to Atlanta, but it's the exact opposite," Cope said. "It's one of my favorite tracks. I finished fifth in the season-ending race there two years ago. I think we can meet with that type of success there this time in the Bryan Pontiac."

Cope says last year's crash was the hardest hit he's taken in more than a decade of action on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit.

"I've looked at the crash on replays and it looked pretty bad and the race car afterwards was really bad," Cope said. "It hurt me pretty bad. I'd never been hurt like that before. I've never really broken anything before. It had to have been a pretty vicious hit. It broke me up inside pretty well. I tend to be pretty strong when it comes to taking licks and things. I'd never really broken anything or bruised up anything before. That thing cleaned my clock."

Cope was briefly knocked unconscious after the crash.

"I remember seeing Burton and thinking, 'I'm catching Ward,'" Cope said. "I'd already gone by Bill Elliott, Ken Schrader and Dale Earnhardt and was leaving them and gaining on Ward. I was thinking we were right back to where we were and we were going to be OK. But then I went into the corner and the right- rear tire gave way and -- boom-- I was in the wall. The last thing I remember was waking up on the gurney going into the hospital and wind being blown up my skirt."

Much of the talk entering Sunday's Cracker Barrel 500 at Atlanta is centered around NASCAR's new rule configurations regarding front air dam and rear spoiler heights. The changes are designed to give drivers greater cornering control at high speeds. The rules debuted in last year's November Atlanta race. They've been used at North Carolina Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway this year.

The new rules have Cope's endorsement.

"The new rules make for a better balance in the race car," Cope said. "It's definitely better. It gives the car more grip and a sense of more grip and you can do more things. You can manipulate the car more and there's a feel of a bit more security in traffic. That's what we were looking for. We want control of the car so we can make the necessary maneuvers."

Bryan is one of four Sara Lee brands rotating as primary sponsors on owner Chuck Rider's Pontiac this season. The others are Jimmy Dean, State Fair and Rudy's Farm. Bryan will enjoy added exposure this week through the use of an in-car camera.

"Atlanta is a good place for us and another opportunity for us to make Bryan feel good about being a sponsor on the car," Cope said. "I think we can be in a position to be among the front-runners in that race. I'm going there with that every intention."

In the first practice, Derrike was 37th fastest of 46 drivers with a time of 29.154 and speed of 190.162. In the second practice, he had picked up his time to 28.756 and speed of 192.794.

In first round qualifying, Derrike took the track as the 17th of 47 drivers and produced a time of 29.154 and speed of 190.163. This put him in 14th position at the time. This was back to the time of their first practice. After first round qualifying, the Bryan Pontiac was left in 39th position. If they had maintained the time of the second practice, Derrike would have started the race in 7th position.

Reasons learned as to the lower speed in qualifying versus the last practice is that they blew the motor in the last practice, and thus had a new one for qualifying. In addition the car was loose during qualifying.

In Saturday's practice with the second round qualifying setup, Derrike was fastest with a time of 29.118 and speed of 190.397. In second round qualifying, Derrike was second fastest with a time of 28.934 and speed of 191.608. This put Derrike in the 27th starting position of the race.

Derrike started the race in 27th position. This is where he was among the 43 drivers:

• 33rd position - lap 10 of 325
• 38th - lap 38
• 32nd - lap 63
• 30th - lap 73 (shown going one lap down)
• 34th - lap 111 (shown going two laps down)
• 34th - lap 133 (3 laps down)
• lap 155 - Derrike crashes into the outside wall. It appears that the car got loose.

Derrike finished the race in 41st position, 175 laps down.

(March 14, 1999) -- Forgive Bryan Pontiac driver Derrike Cope if he's starting to view Atlanta Motor Speedway as a house of pain.

Cope suffered two hard crashes over the weekend in NASCAR races at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The second came Sunday in the Cracker Barrel 500. Cope lost control of his Pontiac on lap 155 entering turn three and backed into the wall. The rear end damage was so severe that the Bahari' Racing team couldn't make necessary repairs in order for him to return to the race.

In Saturday's Busch Series race, Cope crashed hard into the first turn wall after contact with another car. Neither crash caused any significant injuries, but Cope was left sore. He also suffered from the flu throughout the weekend.

Cope is now 43rd in the NASCAR Winston Cup point standings.

"I'm OK," Cope said. "I'm just awfully sore. I was already sore from the crash on Saturday and today's crash added insult to injury. all day with the Bryan Foods Pontiac. We were tight to start with and then we got it freed up and we got it too loose. The motor just wouldn't run. We tried to get the car freed up more in order to run the high side and it was loose coming into the turns. Sure enough, I caught a seam going into turn three and the car just turned around on me."

Cope qualified 27th for the event after posting the second-fastest qualifying speed in second round time trials on Saturday.

Bryan is one of four Sara Lee companies serving as rotating sponsors for Cope this season. The others are Jimmy Dean, State Fair and Rudy's Farm.

Next up for owner Chuck Rider's team is Sunday's TranSouth Financial 400 at Darlington Raceway.

Darryl Gumz was at the race and provided a live report. Darryl's Report