is a racing-car driver in
NASCAR . 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 driver for up-and-coming teams. Currently, he drives the #74 for
McGlynn Racing in the
NEXTEL Cup Series.
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 .
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 . The next year was Cope's best season, Derrike chalking up eight top ten finishes, and garnering a fifteenth place finish in points.
into the pits at the MBNA 200
Busch Series race at Dover in 2004, courtesy U.S. Coast Guard.]]
When Allison's team shut down after the
1997 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
Sara Lee 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 performance deteriorated after the team was bought by
Jack Birmingham , he was mercifully released from the ride. After making sporadic appearances for Joe Falk and
Larry Hedrick Motorsports , Cope signed on to the #15
Ford owned by
Fenley-Moore Motorsports . However, Cope became unhappy when the team only ran a part-time schedule, and quit the the team in disgust. He spent the rest of the year on the sidelines, before taking over at
Impact Motorsports at the end of the season.
In
2001 , he 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 . 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 , 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, joining forces with
Larry Hollenbeck and
Team S.W.A.T. Fitness Racing , but it soon disappeared 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.
In
2006 , he will return to a full schedule in Cup.
