DieHard 500

April 25, 1999
Talladega, AL

(April 20, 1999) -- Like many Americans, Bryan Pontiac driver Derrike Cope loves a Sunday afternoon drive. But this Sunday, Cope's ride won't come on some picturesque countryside road.

Cope will spend the afternoon battling 42 of the world's best drivers in the nail-biting, bumper-to-bumper DieHard 500 at Talladega Superspeedway at speeds in excess of 200 mph.

And Cope would have it no other way.

"Any time I go to Daytona or Talladega I feel like my chances for a good run increase dramatically," Cope said. "A lot of guys don't like the pressure of running side by side and bumper to bumper at such high speeds where one slip up can cause a massive pileup. I thrive on it. Superspeedway racing is kind of like an art and it takes finesse. We're coming off the short tracks where you've got all that beating and banging, and I just don't enjoy that as much."

Cope broke onto the NASCAR Winston Cup scene in a big way with his shocking victory in the 1990 Daytona 500. He won the race on a last-lap pass when leader Dale Earnhardt cut a tire over a small piece of bell-housing that had fallen off another car.

And while Cope enjoys all his Daytona 500 championship hardware, one of his favorite racing souvenirs is a seemingly insignificant plaque, complete with that small piece of bell-housing.

"It's just a constant reminder of what I accomplished," Cope said. "Sometimes I'll have a bad day and I'll just look at that thing on my desk and I have flashbacks of what happened to me on that last lap. It serves as a constant reminder to me that I still have the ability to get the job done."

Last week, Cope and the Bryan Racing team spent two days testing at the 2.66-mile superspeedway. Cope is hopeful that test session can lead to a competitive run Sunday. A run that can forge more fond memories.

"When I leave for Daytona or Talladega for the races, I look at that small plaque in my office before I take off," Cope said. "I think about how good another race win trophy would look next to it."

The team leased a Sabco motor for qualifying this week.

In Friday's practice, Derrike was 45th fastest of the 48 drivers with a time of 50.111 and speed of 191.095.

In first round qualifying, Derrike was the 26th car on the track and on the first lap produced a time of 50.406 and speed of 189.977 which put him in 25th position. The second lap was faster with a time of 49.849 and speed of 192.100 but this only moved the Bryan Pontiac up to 22nd position. At the end of the round, Derrike was left in 40th position.

After qualifying, Derrike said, "It wasn’t eventful, so that’s one good thing. Obviously, it wasn’t very fast either. We’ll see what we can do and come back tomorrow. Considering we had a grand total of four laps on the track in practice, that’s not too bad a lap. It’s actually about what you expect when you went through what we went through this morning. We had to rub some fenders down and then we sprung a leak in the radiator. By the time the crew was finished with all that, there was 35 minutes left in practice. You need more time than that to prepare."

In second round qualifying, Derrike produced a time of 49.798 and speed of 192.297. This was only 44th fastest of the 48 drivers. The team could not take a provisional so Derrike will miss his fourth race of the season.

(April 25, 1999) -- Hounded by frustrating circumstances throughout the weekend, Bryan Pontiac driver Derrike Cope was edged out of the DieHard 500 starting field at Talladega Superspeedway.

On Friday, Cope got in only four laps of practice prior to qualifying after the team made some NASCAR-mandated body changes to the Bryan Pontiac. A radiator leak further delayed the team’s efforts to get out on the track.

Cope posted a speed of 192.100 mph in first round time trials, good for 40th position out of 48 cars. Cope bettered that speed in second round time trials at 192.297, but it still wasn’t enough to crack the 43-car field.

“We just couldn’t get the car fast enough,” Cope said. “The team worked hard to get the Bryan Pontiac in the field, but we couldn’t overcome all of Friday’s setbacks. We’ll go back to the shop and try to improve on things.”

Next up for owner Chuck Rider and the Bahari’ Racing team is Sunday’s California 500 at California Speedway. Cope ran as high as 12th in the race last season.

Bryan is one of four Sara Lee companies rotating as sponsors on the No. 30 Pontiac. The others are Jimmy Dean, State Fair and Rudy’s Farm.