Derrike Cope
Cope in 2025
Born	Derrike Wayne Cope (1958-11-03)November 3, 1958 (age 67) San Diego, California, U.S.
Achievements	1990 Daytona 500 Winner
Awards	1984Winston West Series Rookie of the Year West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame (2013)
NASCARCup Series career
429 races run over 32 years
2021 position	42nd
Best finish	15th (1995)
First race	1982Winston Western 500 (Riverside)
Last race	2021Daytona 500 (Daytona)
First win	1990Daytona 500 (Daytona)
Last win	1990Budweiser 500 (Dover)
Wins Top tens Poles 2 32 1
NASCARO'Reilly Auto Parts Series career
280 races run over 22 years
2016 position	29th
Best finish	20th (2011)
First race	1990Budweiser 300 (New Hampshire)
Last race	2016Kansas Lottery 300 (Kansas)
First win	1994NE Chevy 250 (New Hampshire)
Wins Top tens Poles 1 8 1
NASCARCraftsman Truck Series career
15 races run over 7 years
Best finish	51st (2007)
First race	1995Fas Mart SuperTruck Shootout (Richmond)
Last race	2008Power Stroke Diesel 200 (IRP)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 1 0
Statistics up to date as of December 25, 2021.

Derrike Wayne Cope (born November 3, 1958) is an American professionalstock car racing driver and team owner. He is best known for his surprise win in the1990 Daytona 500. He last competed in theNASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 15Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 forRick Ware Racing in an alliance with his ownStarCom Racing. Cope also was team manager of StarCom. As of 2022, he is the last driver to compete in at least one NASCAR Cup Series race in five consecutive decades (1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, 2020s).

Cope was born inSan Diego,California and raised inSpanaway, Washington.^[1][2] In high school, he enjoyed auto racing and baseball. He was acatcher on theBethel High School baseball team, and later played college baseball atWhitman College. While being scouted byMajor League Baseball teams, Cope suffered a knee injury that ended his playing career. He then devoted himself to racing full-time.^[3][4]

Cope progressed through the short-track ranks in theNorthwest, and later made hisWinston Cup Series debut atRiverside International Raceway in 1982. Cope's No. 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 an attempt atRookie of the Year in1987. In1989, he signed with Bob Whitcomb to drive the No. 10PurolatorPontiac and laterChevrolet, posting four top-ten finishes.

During the last lap of the1990Daytona 500,Dale Earnhardt, who dominated the race, ran over a piece of debris and cut a tire in turn three. After narrowly avoiding most of the resulting debris, Cope went underneath, passed Earnhardt's slowing car, assumed the lead and earned his first win, as well as his first top-five (his best finish prior to the 1990 Daytona 500 was sixth) in NASCAR competition. He became an overnight sensation as a result of the win, appearing onLate Night with David Letterman that week. At Dover later in the 1990 season, Cope rallied for another win after running out of fuel and falling off the lead lap. At year's end, he wound up eighteenth in points.

Following the 1992 season, the Whitcomb team closed down, and Cope drove an originally unsponsored No. 66Ford forCale Yarborough. After Daytona, the car was sponsored byBojangles, and the number changed to No. 98 starting the next race at Rockingham, reflecting the restaurant's 98 cent value menu. Midway through the1994 season, Cope was replaced byJeremy Mayfield and began driving forBobby Allison's No. 12Straight Arrow-sponsoredFord, after a brief stint with car ownerT.W. Taylor. During this season, Cope won his first career Busch Series race atNew Hampshire International Speedway, driving the No. 82Ford Thunderbird forRon Zook, co-owner ofBobby Allison Motorsports.^[5][6] The 1995 season was Cope's most consistent. He had eight top-ten finishes, and garnered a fifteenth place finish in points. His best finish of the season was at Phoenix, in which he led 34 laps and finished runner-up toRicky Rudd following a late-race shootout.

When Allison's team shut down after the1996 season, Cope signed on with the fledglingMB2 Motorsports operation, driving the No. 36Skittles-sponsored Pontiac to a 27th-place finish in points. After one year, he was released and signed on with theBahari Racing operation. Despite missing some races due to an injury, Cope won his first career pole position atLowe's Motor Speedway, although he failed to post a top-ten finish in the No. 30Gumout-sponsored car. Cope returned to Bahari in1999 withSara Lee sponsorship. After failing to qualify for ten races, Cope was released from the team. He made sporadic appearances forLJ Racing andLarry Hedrick Motorsports, and later signed on to drive the No. 15Ford Taurus owned byFenley-Moore Motorsports. 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 No. 86R.C. Cola-sponsoredDodge Ram atImpact Motorsports at the end of the season in theCraftsman Truck Series.

In2001, Cope announced the formation ofQuest Motor Racing, a team he would co-own with drag racerWarren Johnson. The team did not qualify for a race all year, and his only start came withCLR Racing. He ran four races in the Busch Series in the No. 94 owned by Fred Bickford, posting a best finish of 21st atBristol Motor Speedway. The team had mild success the next year, garnering sponsorship fromAvacor andPoison. Cope also ran some races withBAM Racing that year. After eighteen starts in2003 driving the No. 37Friendly's Ice Cream-sponsored Chevrolet, Cope merged the team withArnold Motorsports. Cope qualified fifth 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 thirty races in the No. 49Advil-sponsored Ford for Jay Robinson in the Busch Series that season. His best finish, twentieth, came at Daytona. In2005, Cope tried merging his team again, joining forces withLarry Hollenbeck andS.W.A.T. Fitness, but lost the opportunity after he failed to qualify for the Daytona 500. Cope had attempted a couple of races withWare Racing Enterprises before making his only Cup start of the season atMartinsville Speedway, finishing 33rd in the No. 08Royal Administration/Sundance Vacations^[7]/My Guardian 911-sponsored Dodge forMcGlynn Racing. Cope was later given the team's full-time ride in the No. 00, as requested by the sponsor.

In2006, Cope intended to run a full schedule for McGlynn with No. 74 car, but soon cut back to part-time. His best finish was atMichigan International Speedway, where he finished 34th. In the Busch Series, his best finish in the 49 car was 33rd atDover International Speedway, and his best start was 33rd atBristol 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 andXpress Motorsports.

In 2008, he signed to drive forMeans Racing in the Nationwide Series, but switched midseason to drive for James Finch and Jay Robinson Racing. Later in the season, Cope began entering his own trucks and cars in the Craftsman Truck Series and Nationwide Series. In the truck series he fielded the No. 73 and No. 74 trucks with Nick Tucker and Jennifer Jo Cobb being the primary drivers, while in the Nationwide Series he fielded the No. 73 and No. 78 cars withKevin Lepage driving the No. 73 and others racing the No. 78.

As the 2009 season approached, Cope announced he would be involved on all three of NASCAR's circuits, as he would pilot the No. 75Cope/Keller Racing Dodge in the Sprint Cup series withBluFrog Energy Drink coming on board as a primary sponsor duringDaytona Speedweeks. He began the season as the driver of the No. 41Metal JeansChevrolet Impala forRick Ware Racing in the Nationwide Series, but was released after three races, and moved to his own team. He has also fielded trucks part-time for himself,Larry Foyt, andJennifer Jo Cobb. Cope has fielded the No. 78 car for one race in nationwide. He has fielded the No. 73 for most of the races.

In 2009, Cope attempted six races with his self-owned team; he failed to qualify for any of them. At the October Martinsville race, Cope successfully attempted his first Sprint Cup race since 2006 while driving forLarry Gunselman.

In 2010, Cope teamed up with Dale Clemons as co-owners of new racing ventureStratus Racing Group. The team ran a full schedule with Cope as driver in both the Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series. It also ran a limited schedule in the ARCA Re/Max Series, fielding a car for Cope's twin niecesAmber Cope andAngela Cope, who split the ride.

Cope returned to Jay Robinson Inc. for 2011 in the No. 28 Chevrolet. For the 2011 Daytona 500, Cope attempted to qualify the No. 64 Toyota for Larry Gunselman with sponsorship from Sta-Bil. Cope finished thirteenth in the Budweiser Shootout driving for Gunselman. Cope has decided to field his Cup car in select races with manufacturing backing fromChevrolet instead ofDodge. In the 2011Sprint Showdown, Cope was involved in a crash withLandon Cassill, where he T-boned Cassill's car when he spun out. Neither driver was injured. Cope finished twentieth in Nationwide Series standings, competing in all but one event.

Cope returned to the Nationwide Series in 2012, competing in the No. 73 Chevrolet for his ownCFK Motorsports. After missing the opening race at Daytona, Cope would return to Jay Robinson's team for Las Vegas, and later Darlington for ML Motorsports. Cope and his No. 73 the fall race a Phoenix. Cope announced that he would run a part-time schedule in 2013. Cope made his first attempt at Darlington, resulting in a DNQ. Cope would qualify at Kentucky, finishing 39th. After two more DNQs at Richmond and Charlotte in his own car, Cope was hired to run the No. 70 Toyota, driving for NEMCO-JRR atPhoenix International Raceway, but after a crash in qualifying crash, Cope's No. 73 Chevy Impala was the 70 car's backup. Cope would finish 35th.

In 2014, Cope's team bought the equipment from the defunctML Motorsports. After piecing together sponsorship deals early on, Youtheory agreed to sponsor Cope for the entire 2014 season, enabling Cope to race full-time for the first time since 2011. It was a much needed break for Cope, and he piloted the No. 70 Youtheory Chevrolet to a 22nd-place points finish. In January 2015, Cope announced that he would return to the Xfinity Series for the part-time 2015 season with Charlie's Soap as the sponsor.^[8] The 2015 season saw a dip in performance. At Auto Club, Cope's hauler was swarmed with bees. Several crew members, including Cope's wife, were stuck inside the hauler. Cope attempted 29 races, withMatt Frahm,Matt Waltz andGarrett Smithley running the remaining four. Cope returned in 2016, with him driving 28 races,Timmy Hill driving two races andDexter Stacey driving the last three races of season. Cope missed the race at Daytona after issues in qualifying, but qualified the following week in Atlanta. During theZippo 200 at The Glen, Cope radioed to his team that he was having a brake problem. Shortly after, the front end of the car exploded and black smoke blew from the car. NASCAR confiscated the car and investigated what had happened. Cope was unharmed. It was later discovered that the explosion was caused by tire failure triggered by excess heat from a broken spindle.^[9][10]

In January 2017, Cope closed down his Xfinity Series team after sixteen years of competition. In February, it was announced that Cope would return to theNASCAR Cup Series, driving forPremium Motorsports.^[11] On March 3, Cope qualified for theFolds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, his first race since 2009 at NASCAR's highest level. Cope would finish under power in 36th, after suffering power steering problems during the race. Sundance Vacations and the United Way of NEPA partnered to sponsor Cope at theOverton's 400 at Pocono. As part ofDarlington Raceway's annual "throwback" weekend, Cope's No. 55 car was designed like his No. 12Mane 'n Tail car that he drove forBobby Allison Motorsports from 1994 to 1996, and Mane 'n Tail returned as the sponsor.

On September 10, 2017, Cope announced that he and Premium Motorsports had agreed to part ways, saying, "I'm thankful to Jay Robinson and the folks at Premium for the opportunity they have given me this season to return to the Cup Series but the timing is right to pursue other opportunities."^[12] Two weeks later, Premium sponsorStarCom Fiber formedStarCom Racing, fielding the No. 00 for Cope at Dover.^[13] However, on September 26, 2017, StarCom Racing announced they will withdraw from Dover due to personnel hiring and timing.^[14] Cope did make his first start with StarCom at theHollywood Casino 400 at Kansas, starting 39th and finishing last after mechanical problems plagued the car. Cope's best race of the season came in the penultimate race of the season atPhoenix. He started last due to not making a qualifying run after an engine problem appeared on his No. 00, but spent most of the race charging through the field to place 32nd due to late-race crashes.

In January 2018, StarCom Racing announced that they had secured a charter for the 2018 Cup Series season and will run the full schedule with Cope andJeffrey Earnhardt serving for the majority of the schedule. However, Earnhardt and StarCom split, andLandon Cassill was hired. Cope announced that they would hopefully run his No. 99 car at Texas Motor Speedway, though the team did not attempt to make that race. Cope and the 99 would make their 2018 debut at Dover International Speedway, the site of Cope's second Cup win in 1990. Cope would also run Pocono and Darlington that year. Cope would run Darlington with sponsorship from Bojangles, who sponsored Cope in 1993, for the annual Throwback Weekend.

After focusing on his management role in 2019 and 2020, Cope announced a return to driving in 2021, driving the No. 15 Jacob Companies Chevrolet Camaro forRick Ware Racing in a partnership withStarCom Racing for theDaytona 500.^[15] At season's end, StarCom shut down, making Cope a free agent.

At the end of 2021, with StarCom shutting down, Cope and his wife sold their shares of the operation. Afterwards, Cope joined Nick Tucker'sSCCA team,Nitro Motorsports, in the managing department of Nitro's Trans-Am 2 team. He also has been active in theGT America Series.

Cope's first cousin is NASCARcrew chiefErnie Cope. Cope's nieces,Angela Ruch andAmber Cope, and cousinNick Tucker have also raced in NASCAR. Angela still competes part time, while Amber quit driving in 2012 after an incident withKevin Harvick. Cope has been married twice. His current wife, Elyshia, is marketing director at StarCom Racing.

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time.Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)