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Derrike Cope
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Derrike Cope is a race-car driver in NASCAR, best known for his win at the 1990 Daytona 500. He currently drives the #31 car for Rick Ware. He is owner of the #73 and #78 teams in the Nationwide Series and the #73 and #74 trucks in the Camping World Truck Series. He also co-owns Cope/Keller racing which fields the #75 BluFrog Energy Drink Dodge in the Sprint Cup Series.
ing up in Spanaway, Washington, racing was just a hobby for Cope.
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Encyclopedia
Derrike Cope is a race-car driver in NASCAR, best known for his win at the 1990 Daytona 500. He currently drives the #31 car for Rick Ware. He is owner of the #73 and #78 teams in the Nationwide Series and the #73 and #74 trucks in the Camping World Truck Series. He also co-owns Cope/Keller racing which fields the #75 BluFrog Energy Drink Dodge in the Sprint Cup Series.
Beginnings
Growing up in Spanaway, Washington, racing was just a hobby for Cope. He was a successful catcher on the Bethel High School baseball team, attending Whitman College to continue his baseball dreams. While being recruited by major-league baseball teams, he suffered a knee injury that ended his hopes of big-league glory, and Cope then devoted himself to racing full time.
Cope soon progressed through the short-track ranks in the Northwest, and later made his Winston Cup debut at Riverside International Raceway in 1982. Cope's #95 car finished 36th there after developing an oil leak, and he won $625.
He ran part-time in the Winston Cup series after that, making a brief attempt at Rookie of the Year in 1987. In 1989, he signed with Bob Whitcomb to drive the #10 Purolator Pontiac and later Chevrolet, posting four top-10 finishes.
1990-1995
During the last lap of the 1990 Daytona 500, Dale Earnhardt ran over a piece of debris and cut a tire in turn three, causing him to nearly lose control. After narrowly avoiding most of the resulting debris, Cope assumed the lead and earned his first win in NASCAR competition. He is best remembered for the quote "when you wake up the next morning and see your name in the papers, it is just unbelievable". At Dover later in the 1990 season, Cope rallied for another unlikely win after running out of fuel and falling off the lead lap. At year's end, he wound up 18th in points.
Following the 1992 season, the Whitcomb team closed down, and drove an originally unsponsored #66 Ford for Cale Yarborough. The car was later sponsored by Bojangles, and the number changed to #98, reflecting the restaurant's 98 menu items.
Midway thorough the 1994 season, Cope was replaced by Jeremy Mayfield and began driving for Bobby Allison's #12 Straight Arrow Ford, after a brief stint with car owner T.W. Taylor. During this season, Cope won his first career Busch Series race at New Hampshire International Speedway, driving the #82 Ford Thunderbird for Ron Zock. The 1995 season was Cope's most consistent. He chalked up eight top-10 finishes, and garnered a 15th-place finish in points.
1996-2005
When Allison's team shut down after the 1996 season, Cope signed on with the fledging MB2 Motorsports operation, driving the #36 Skittles Pontiac to a 27th-place finish in points. After one year, he was released and signed on with the Bahari Racing operation. Despite missing some races due to an injury, Cope won his first career pole position at Lowe's Motor Speedway, although he failed to post a top-10 finish in the #30 Gumout car.
Cope returned to Bahari in 1999 with Sara Lee sponsorship. After failing to qualify for 10 races, Cope was released from the team. He made sporadic appearances for LJ Racing and Larry Hedrick Motorsports, and later signed on to drive the #15 Ford Taurus owned by Fenley-Moore Motorsports. However, Cope became unhappy when the team only ran a part-time schedule, and quit after a few races. He spent the rest of the year on the sidelines, before taking over the #86 R.C. Cola Dodge Ram at Impact Motorsports at the end of the season in the Craftsman Truck Series.
In 2001, Cope announced the formation of Quest Motor Racing, a team he would co-own with drag racer Warren Johnson. The team didn't qualify for a race all year, and his only start came with CLR Racing. He ran four races in the Busch Series in the #94 owned by Fred Bickford, posting a best finish of 21st at Bristol Motor Speedway. The team had mild success the next year, garnering sponsorship from Avacor and Poison. Cope also ran some races with BAM Racing that year.
After 18 starts in 2003 driving the #37 Friendly's Ice Cream Chevrolet, Cope merged the team with Arnold Motorsports. Cope qualified 5th for the 2004 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400, but after several starts, Cope was released from the ride, and took back his equipment. He also ran 30 races in the #49 Advil Ford for Jay Robinson in the Busch Series that season. His best finish, 20th, came at Daytona.
In 2005, Cope tried merging his team again, joining forces with Larry Hollenbeck and S.W.A.T. Fitness, but lost the opportunity after he failed to qualify for the Daytona 500. Cope had attempted a couple of races with Ware Racing Enterprises before making his only Cup start of the season at Martinsville Speedway, finishing 33rd in the #08 Royal Administration/Sundance Vacations/My Guardian 911 Dodge for McGlynn Racing. Cope was later given the team's full-time ride in the #00, as requested by the sponsor.
2006-2009
In 2006, Cope intended to run a full schedule for McGlynn with #74 car, but soon cut back to part-time. His best finish was at Michigan International Speedway, where he finished 34th. In the Busch Series, his best finish in the 49 car was 33rd at Dover International Speedway, and his best start was 33rd at Bristol Motor Speedway. He intended to run more races with McGlynn in 2007, but the team suspended operations after only attempting one race. He spent the season driving part time schedules for Robinson and Xpress Motorsports.
In 2008, he signed to drive for Means Racing in the Nationwide Series, but switched mid season to drive for James Finch and Jay Robinson Racing. Later in the season,Cope began entering his own trucks and cars in the Craftman and Nationwide series. In the truck series he fielded the #73 and #74 trucks with Nick Turner and Jennifer Jo Cobb being the primary drivers,while in the Nationwide series he fielded the #73 and #78 cars with Kevin Lepage driving the #73 and others racing the #78.
As the 2009 season approached, Cope announced he would be busy on all three of NASCAR's circuits, as he would pilot the #75 Cope/Keller Dodge in the Sprint Cup series with BluFrog Energy Drink coming on board as a primary sponsor during Daytona Speedweeks. He plans on running his #73 truck all season long with Larry Foyt piloting the truck at Daytona, and has announced he will be driving the #41 Ware Racing Enterprises car in the Nationwide series.
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