Food City 500

April 11, 1999
Bristol, TN

(April 5, 1999) -- Jimmy Dean Pontiac driver Derrike Cope prefers the finesse it takes to get around the superspeedways on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit, but this Sunday's Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway will likely come down to a shoving match and Cope says he can jostle with the sport's best.

"Bristol is a grab-and-growl type race," Cope said. "You know when you've been hit, let's just put it that way. Everybody comes out bruised at Bristol. Most fights that are good battles, everybody comes out with a knot on them somewhere. At Bristol, you definitely come out with an antler or two. Whether you get a knot or an antler, that's just the way it is."

But Cope says it's the smart fighter that makes it through the treacherous 500-lap race on the unforgiving .533-mile layout.

"You've got to be able to put a bumper to somebody and be smart about that, get them out of your way if they're being obstinate," Cope said. "Yet, if somebody's all over you and you're not as fast as them, you've got to find a way to let them get by on the outside so you don't get hung out, and still be fast enough to pull away from certain people. You try to keep yourself away from getting in a tussle. If you can do that, run productively enough to do that, and then give up to the guys that are faster than you, you'll end up having a good day. It's one of those deals where you have to be really smart."

Cope says the tension while driving at Bristol can become unbearable. The caution flag is a routine site at Bristol, and the more impatient and rough drivers become, the more cars are sent careening into the walls. The race boils down to a matter of sheer survival.

"It's a situation where you're in traffic all the time, constantly on top of the wheel and you really have to battle really hard," Cope said. "Things happen quickly at Bristol. If something happens in front of you, you're very fortunate, very lucky to get through it. You really have to stay on top of things. You have to be looking far ahead and your foot's always right on the edge of the brake. You're always waiting for something to happen. You anticipate something happening because in order to get by people at Bristol you really have to put a bumper to people. Typically, someone is putting it to you at the same time. It's really a lot of rooting and grinding going on. No one has a lot of regard for you."

Bristol is nicknamed "Thunder Valley" with good reason. Its location in the middle of the mountains and towering grandstands combine to trap the noise of the combatants' shrieking engines.

"The noise is deafening at Bristol," Cope said. "Your ears ring all the next day. You cannot hear great after that race, especially that night. You catch yourself yelling on the radio during the race. You can't hear yourself think. You can't hear your crew hardly and you're going, 'What? I didn't hear that.' It gets ugly. That's just an issue you have to deal with."

Owner Chuck Rider's Bahari' Racing team had a productive effort in the March 28 Primestar 500 at Texas. Cope finished 22nd, but earned some needed points to strengthen his position in the point standings.

"We accomplished some of thing we wanted to get done at Texas. We needed a 100-point day and bring the car home in one piece. We got 97 points and there wasn't a scratch on the Jimmy Dean Pontiac. We finished and the pit crew had their best pit road performance on the season. We'll be looking for the same kind of effort at Bristol."

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

More of the same but a little more:

DERRIKE COPE (No. 30 Jimmy Dean Pontiac Grand Prix): "Everybody comes out bruised at Bristol. It's the highest-banked track we run on and just a little over a half-mile. Bristol is a grab-and-growl type race. You know when you've been hit, let's just put it that way. Most fights that are good battles, everybody comes out with a knot on them somewhere. At Bristol, you definitely come out with an antler or two. Whether you get a knot or an antler, that's just the way it is. Darrell Waltrip's been really good there. He always come out of there with good finishes and not having the car torn up. He's just smart. Mark Martin will pull over and let people go and race when he can and not get torn up. It's a tough place to do that, but you've got to do it sometimes."

HOW DO YOU GET AROUND BRISTOL? "You've got to be able to put a bumper to somebody and be smart about that, get them out of your way if they're being obstinate. Yet, if somebody's all over you and you're not as fast as them, you've got to find a way to let them get by on the outside so you don't get hung out, and still be fast enough to pull away from certain people. You try to keep yourself away from getting in a tussle. If you can do that, run productively enough to do that, and then give up to the guys that are faster than you, you'll end up having a good day. It's one of those deals where you have to be really smart."

WHAT'S IT LIKE DRIVING AROUND BRISTOL? "Bristol is one of those places where you're in the throttle. You drive the car off into the corner and before the car even tells you which direction it's going in you go back to the throttle knowing the car is going to turn and you're going to have to steer it. A lot of it is really just a manipulation of the car. In the race it's a situation where you're in traffic all the time, constantly on top of the wheel and you really have to battle really hard. Things happen quickly there. If something happens in front of you, you're very fortunate, very lucky to get through it."

IS A DRIVER ALWAYS ON EDGE AT BRISTOL, LOOKING FOR TROUBLE? "You really have to stay on top of things. You can't get lulled into just driving the car. You have to be looking far ahead and your foot's always right on the edge of the brake. You're always waiting for something to happen. You anticipate something happening because in order to get by people there you really have to put a bumper to people. Typically, someone is putting it to you at the same time. It's really a lot of rooting and grinding going on. No one has a lot of regard for you."

HOW LOUD IS IT AT BRISTOL? "The noise is deafening at Bristol. Your ears ring all the next day. You cannot hear great after that race, especially that night. You have a ringing in your ear when you go to bed. It's difficult. You catch yourself yelling. You can't hear yourself think. You can't hear your crew hardly and you're going, 'What? I didn't hear that.' It gets ugly. That's just an issue you have to deal with there because the grandstands are so far up and it keeps all the noise and all the air out of that place."

DO YOU LIKE RACING AT BRISTOL? "I talk to a few drivers like John Andretti and he hates the place. It's just one of those deals where all you can do is go there and drive the best you can. I've had good success there. It's been a good place for me, from both a qualifying and a race standpoint. It's not my favorite place to go. Especially now, because it's become such a pushing and shoving match. If you're quick enough where you can dictate where you want to run or you're trying to stay out of the way and you survive a lot of the wrecks, that's how you make it though. It's either/or. You really have to have a good race car there or stay out of harm's way or let people go when they're faster than you and tuck in line and keep people away from you. Do all that and you can have a good, solid day there. I've been able to have good efforts there. I've yet to win there, but I've had good top-10 runs going and had a tire go down or something like that. I don't really worry about going there because I've had good success there and I know I get around there well."

HOW DID YOU PERFORM AT BRISTOL LAST YEAR? "Bristol was very difficult for me last year because I drove with two broken ribs. I was sore, my shoulder and everything. Typically, I've never really had a problem with fatigue there. There are times when the car is terrible and you'll flex your arm continually fighting on the wheel and hanging on. Your arms can get tired because of that. If the car is decent and you're in a groove and running competitive, then you're not really thinking about it. Our car wasn't bad there, I just couldn't drive it as hard as I wanted to. We were running pretty well and running right on Bobby Labonte's bumper when they all stopped in front of Bobby and I couldn't stop behind him. We were running with the top group there and I had to come in and go to the back of the pack. That hurt us. If we hadn't gotten in that deal we probably would have had a pretty good race. I did get fatigued a bit later in the race and my ribs were hurting me and my shoulder, I was just kind of hanging on. We still finished decent considering."

In the last practice before first round qualifying, Derrike was 17th fastest of 47 drivers with a time of 15.560 and speed of 123.316.

In first round qualifying Derrike was 14th on the track and produced a time of 15.706 and speed of 122.170, over one mile per hour slower than his practice time. This put him in 13th position at the time. At the end of the round, the Jimmy Dean Pontiac had fallen to 41st position.

After first round qualifying, Derrike said, "I got a little too low coming out of turn four to take the green flag and I think that kind of messed my line up for the first lap. The tires didn’t seem to work the way we wanted them to. It’s frustrating. We were hoping to at least duplicate what we did in the last practice and then we would be fine right now."

In Saturday's practice, Derrike was 13th fastest with a time of 15.800 and speed of 121.443.

In second round qualifying Derrike produced a time of 15.813 and speed of 121.343. This was not fast enough to make the race and the Jimmy Dean Pontiac will miss Bristol.

BRISTOL, Tenn. (April 10, 1999) -- Jimmy Dean Pontiac driver Derrike Cope did not make the starting field for Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway after slipping in turn two on consecutive laps in second round time trials on Saturday.

Cope’s Jimmy Dean Pontiac had a tough time negotiating turn two as the tail end wiggled after hitting the apex of the turn each time. It cost Cope valuable time and his second round qualifying speed was 121.343 mph, 45th fastest of 47 cars who competed for 43 spots in the field.

In Friday’s opening time trials, Cope’s car broke loose coming out of turn four while taking the green flag. That broke Cope’s rhythm and took him out of his qualifying line. His speed was 41st fastest at 122.170 mph.

“I got a little low coming out of turn four to take the green flag and I think that kind of messed my line up for the first lap,” Cope said. “The tires didn’t seem to work the way we wanted them to. It’s frustrating for us and our friends at Jimmy Dean. We’ll continue to fight and try to make some amends next week at Martinsville.

Next up for owner Chuck Rider’s Bahari’ Racing team is Sunday’s Goody’s 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Cope tested two days at the short track two weeks ago in preparation for the event.