Pepsi 400

July 3, 1999
Daytona, FL

(June 29, 1999) -- The twinkle in Bryan Pontiac driver Derrike Cope's eyes this Saturday night will not be from the bright lights in the Pepsi 400 held at the Daytona International Speedway, but from the excitement of returning to the site of his biggest NASCAR Winston Cup victory.

Every time Cope speaks about NASCAR's most celebrated race, he can't help reminiscing on his 1990 Daytona 500 championship.

"What happens after Daytona is absolutely magical," Cope said. "When you win the race and you walk around victory lane, then you are whisked away to talk to the media, and then you go up and toast champagne... it's a wonderful, wonderful happening. There is nothing else like it. You win that race and it elevates your notoriety. You're thrust into doing a lot more things. People look at you in a different light. Your doing media tours across the country. Instant recognition. That stays with you."

Even when things go wrong at Daytona, Cope seems to rise to the occasion. At this year's first Daytona 500, Cope had a tire go down and nearly hit the wall on lap 43. But he masterfully saved his Grand Prix and was able to pit for fresh rubber. Cope finished the race battling the leaders just one lap down before settling for an 18-place finish.

"Even though we cut a tire early in the race, we were pretty good," Cope said. "We marched right back and showed everyone we could run up there. I was hoping to get the lap back and I just didn't have quite enough to get it done."

While Cope has had a lot of success at Daytona, he would prefer to race under the Florida sun than the lights of the Pepsi 400.

"I like Daytona, I always have, but I don't like racing there as much under the lights," Cope said. "It's OK, but it's a little dark and dingy on the back straightaway which I don't like. But anytime I come back to Daytona, I typically enjoy it."

Cope is not the only person bothered by the night races at Daytona. Spotter Rick Cordell says the lights affect his job as well.

"The hardest races to spot are at Daytona and Talladega at night," Cordell said. "The length of the track makes it hard to see on the backstretch. The colors seem to run together on the cars. When they are coming down on the back stretch, it is just a blur of colors."

But with all the distractions that night racing can bring, Cope looks forward to returning to the site of his greatest race. This time the driver of the Bryan Pontiac hopes that the lights blinding his vision at Daytona will be the ones from the photographer's light bulbs in victory lane.

In Thursday's practice, Derrike and the Bryan Pontiac was 41st fastest with a time of 47.800 and speed of 188.284.

In first round qualifying, Derrike was 5th to qualify and his first lap was 47.690 with a speed of 188.719. The second lap was faster with a time of 47.419 and speed of 189.797. This put the Bryan Pontiac in 3rd position at the time. At the end of the round, Derrike was left in 37th position.

In Friday's practice, Derrike was 25th fastest with a time of 47.771 and speed of 188.398.

The team decided to requalify in the second round and produced a time of 47.383 and speed of 189.942. This unfortunately was not fast enough to make the race and the team will miss their second superspeedway race in a row.

(July 2, 1999) -- Bryan Pontiac driver Derrike Cope was edged out of the starting field of the Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway by .182 seconds in second round qualifying on Friday night.

Cope’s second round speed of 189.942 mph was faster than his first round qualifying speed despite slower qualifying conditions due to warmer temperatures. But Cope was sent to 37th-fastest on the final rundown by the next-to-last driver to qualify -- Brett Bodine. The top 36 drivers made the race, along with seven provisional drivers. Provisionals are based on a team’s placement in the NASCAR Winston Cup point standings.

“We actually had a good lap,” Cope said. “It just simply wasn’t quite enough to make the field. We had put a new body on this Bryan Pontiac and spent most of Thursday working the bugs out of it. The guys on the team really worked hard to get us in the field, but it didn’t work out. I hate that because we had our best race of the season here.”

Cope’s first round qualifying speed was 189.797 mph also good enough for 37th-fastest.

Next up for owner Chuck Rider’s Bahari’ Racing team is the Jiffy Lube 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway. Jimmy Dean will serve as the team’s sponsor.

The other Sara Lee brands that rotate as sponsors on the No. 30 Pontiac are State Fair and Rudy’s Farm.