Save Mart/Kragen 350K

June 27, 1999
Sonoma, CA

(June 21, 1999) -- State Fair Brand Corn Dogs Pontiac driver Derrike Cope went back to school to prepare for one of the most unique stock car races on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit, Sunday's Save Mart/Kragen 350 held at Sears Point Raceway.

Cope attended the Jim Russell Driving School at the 1.949-mile road course on April 29 prior to last month's race at California Speedway. Cope wanted to touch up on his road racing skills. With the exception of Watkins Glen, Sears Point is the only Winston Cup track where drivers must be prepared for right turns as well as the standard left ones.

"We definitely learned a lot that day, even though we were in different styles of race cars," Cope said. "We were in open-wheel cars, the Barber-Dodge Series cars. The reason we went out there was basically to get accustomed to the race track and the changes they made there. We were trying to see if some road racing experts could find some flaws in our approach to road racing and try to help me pick better apexes and make better decisions on the road. I thought I gained some knowledge of things out there and I left with a positive outlook."

While many Winston Cup drivers prefer the traditional oval-shaped race tracks on the circuit, Cope looks forward to the challenge of the twisting roads at Sears Point.

"I enjoy road racing," Cope said. "It's fun. It's a change from what we normally do. You get to abuse the car a little more, you get to pitch the car a little more and you get to shift gears a little more, all that is enjoyable about racing. At this track, you must be smooth and sometimes you have a tendency to overdrive the cars. It is hard work and you've really got to have a good race car at Sears Point."

Not only will he have to deal with an unorthodox raceway that bends in any direction, but Cope will run on an altered course this weekend.

"When we were down there, we could see track officials working on the track," Cope said. "At the time, the only changes were just along the long far end where they moved the barrels to mark the boundaries of the track. They didn't really know what they were going to do when we were out there. They were trying to get a sense of better apexes and things. I heard that they moved the barrels in, but we will not see the final changes until we go back out there. They just weren't finished before we left."

Cope's best finish at Sears Point was in 1995 when the San Diego, Calif., native finished 12th.

State Fair Brand Corn Dogs is one of four rotating sponsors on Cope's car. The others are Jimmy Dean, Bryan and Rudy's Farm.

In practice on Friday Derrike was 39th fastest of 51 cars with a time of 1:13.493 and speed of 144.454.

In first round qualifying, Derrike finished his lap with a time of 1.12.884 and speed of 96.268. This was fast enough for 25th position. At the end of the round the State Fair Pontiac had only slipped to 29th position.

After qualifying, Derrike said, "We weren’t that good in practice and we made some changes that made the car better. We’re in pretty good shape to make the show tomorrow and that takes a little pressure off. It helps to have all of Saturday for working on your race setup."

The team decided to stand on their time. Some other cars decided to requalify in the second round and they got faster times which pushed the State Fair Pontiac down in the starting lineup to 36th where Derrike will start the race.

In Saturday's first practice, Derrike was 32nd fastest with a time of 1:13.265 and speed of 95.767. In the second practice, he was 40th fastest with a time of 1:15.157 and speed of 93.356.

Derrike started the race in 36th position and finished the race in 37th position, 3 laps down.

(June 27, 1999) -- State Fair Brand Corn Dogs Pontiac driver Derrike Cope was one of several drivers foiled by a cruel, treacherous road course at Sears Point Raceway Sunday.

Cope, who qualified 36th, was running 33rd when he lost control going up a hill toward turn two on lap 71 of the 112-lap race. Cope smashed into a tire barrier and his car laid to rest on the hillside. He returned to the pits and the Bahari’ Racing crew made quick repairs to return him to competition. Cope lost only three laps and never lost a lap under green. He finished 37th.

“We were holding our own,” Cope said. “We had a problem a couple of times with the throttle getting stuck. On the accident I think I was just going too fast on the tires to get through that turn up the hill. That was a pretty wild ride, but actually, it didn’t do too much damage, even though it appeared I was trying to mow the grass down on the banks. It knocked the tow out about a quarter inch, but it really didn’t run too bad after that.”

Next up for Chuck Rider’s Bahari’ Racing team is Saturday night’s Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway.

State Fair is one of four rotating sponsors on Cope’s car. The others are Jimmy Dean, Bryan and Rudy’s Farm.