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Famous Like Me > Actor > C > Derrike Cope

Profile of Derrike Cope on Famous Like Me

 
Name: Derrike Cope  
   
Also Know As:
   
Date of Birth: 3rd November 1958
   
Place of Birth: Spanaway, Washington, USA
   
Profession: Actor
 
 
From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia
Derrike Cope
Born: November 3, 1958
Birthplace: San Diego, California
Awards: None
NASCAR Cup statistics
Car #, Team Unemployed
2004 NEXTEL Cup Position: 40th
Best Cup Position: 15th - 1995 (Winston Cup)
First Race: 1982 Winston Western 500 (Riverside)
First Win: 1990 Daytona 500 (Daytona)
Last Win: 1990 Budweiser 500 (Dover)
Wins Top Tens Poles
2 32 1
All stats current as of September 20th, 2005.

Derrike Cope is a racing-car driver in NASCAR. Although no longer a full-time driver, Cope is still well known for his win at the 1990 Daytona 500. In recent years, Cope has come into struggles finding a quality ride, but is still relied on as a test drivers for up-and-coming teams. Currently, he drives the #28 Ford for Jay Robinson Racing in the NASCAR Busch Series.

Beginnings

One of Cope's earlier sprint car rides.

Growing up in Spanaway, Washington, racing was just a hobby for Cope, who was a successful catcher on his high school baseball team, enough that he was recruited by colleges and major league baseball teams alike. But an unfortunate knee injury ended his hopes of big league glory, and Cope decided to devote himself to racing full-time. He soon made his way up through the short tracks in the Northwest, it wasn't long before he made his Winston Cup debut, at Riverside International Raceway in 1982. His #95 car finished 36th after getting an oil leak, and Cope won $625. Cope ran part-time in the Cup series after that, making a brief attempt at Rookie of the Year in 1987. In 1989, he hooked up with Bob Whitcomb to drive his #10 Purolator Pontiac, posting 4-top ten finshes. Cope never would have guessed how much his life would change in the 1990 Daytona 500.

15 Minutes of Fame

In that race, Dale Earnhardt, who was famous for running into bad luck during this race, led a majority of the race and thought his Daytona drought was over. However, during the last lap of the race, Earnhardt ran over a piece of debris and sustained a tire failure in turn 3, causing him to nearly lose control. In his attempt to save the car from a potential crash, the second place car (Cope) assumed the lead and earned his first win in NASCAR competition. Derrike also won a race at Dover later in the 1990 season, and wound up eighteenth in points. After Cope struggled to maintain his success after that season was over, he and Whitcomb split up, and he drove the #66/98 Bojangles Ford for Cale Yarborough. Midway thorough the 1994 season, Cope was replaced by Jeremy Mayfield and began driving for Bobby Allison's #12 Straight Arrow Ford. Cope's best season during his tenure, chalking up eight top ten finishes, and garnering a fifteenth place finish in points.

Struggles

Image:Tx-carside2.jpg

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 struggling Bahari' Racing operation. Despite missing some races due to injury, Cope won his first career pole position at Lowe's Motor Speedway, although he failed to post a top-ten finish in the #30 Gumout car. 1999 turned out to be Cope's worst nightmare. His Jimmy Dean sponsored ride could often be seen packing up and heading home after 2nd-round qualifying, and even when he did qualify, a DNF was the norm. When Cope's performace deteriorated after the team was bought by Jack Birmingham, he was mercifully fired from the ride. After making sporadic apperances for Joe Falk and Hedrick Motorsports, Cope signed on to the #15 Ford owned by Bud Moore. A lack of sponsorship cost Cope his ride however, and he took most of the rest of the year off. In 2001, he announced the formation of Quest Motor Racing, a team he would co-own with drag racer Warren Johnston. The team didn't qualify for a race all year, and his only start came with CLR Racing. The team had mild success the next year, garnering sponsorship from Avacor and Poison.

Image:Kf-friendlysdayt5.jpg

Cope also ran some races with BAM Racing that year. After 18 starts in 2003, Cope merged the team with Arnold Motorsports. After several starts, Cope was released from the ride, and as a result Cope took back his equipment. In 2005, Cope tried merging his team again in 2005, joining forces with Larry Hollenbeck and Team S.W.A.T. Fitness Racing, but it soon dissapeared after Cope failed to qualify for the Daytona 500. Since then, Cope has attempted a couple of races with Ware Racing Enterprises, as well as running a part-time schedule in the Busch Series.

External Links

Offical Site

This content from Wikipedia is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Derrike Cope