Derrike Cope

Derrike Wayne Cope (born November 3, 1958) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner.

Cope progressed through the short-track ranks in the Northwest, and later made his Winston Cup Series debut at Riverside International Raceway in 1982.

He ran part-time in the Winston Cup Series after that, making an attempt at Rookie of the Year in 1987.

In 1989, he signed with Bob Whitcomb to drive the No. 10 Purolator Pontiac and later Chevrolet, posting four top-10 finishes.

He is best known for his surprise win in the 1990 Daytona 500.

He last competed in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 15 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Rick Ware Racing in an alliance with his own StarCom Racing.

Cope also served as 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 in San Diego, California and raised in Spanaway, Washington.

In high school, he enjoyed auto racing and baseball.

He was a catcher on the Bethel High School baseball team, and later played college baseball at Whitman College.

While being scouted by Major League Baseball teams, Cope suffered a knee injury that ended his playing career.

He then devoted himself to racing full-time.

During the last lap of the 1990 Daytona 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 5 (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 on Late 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.

Following the 1992 season, the Whitcomb team closed down, and Cope drove an originally unsponsored No. 66 Ford for Cale Yarborough.

After Daytona, the car was sponsored by Bojangles, and the number changed to No. 98 starting the next race at Rockingham, reflecting the restaurant's 98 cent value menu.

Midway through the 1994 season, Cope was replaced by Jeremy Mayfield and began driving for Bobby Allison's No. 12 Straight Arrow-sponsored 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 No. 82 Ford Thunderbird for Ron Zook, co-owner of Bobby Allison Motorsports.

He ran four races in the Busch Series in the No. 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.

Cope's No. 95 car finished 36th there after developing an oil leak, and he won $625.

The 1995 season was Cope's most consistent.

When Allison's team shut down after the 1996 season, Cope signed on with the fledgling MB2 Motorsports operation, driving the No. 36 Skittles-sponsored 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 No. 30 Gumout-sponsored 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 No. 15 Ford Taurus owned by Fenley-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. 86 R.C. Cola-sponsored 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 did not qualify for a race all year, and his only start came with CLR Racing.

After 18 starts in 2003 driving the No. 37 Friendly's Ice Cream-sponsored Chevrolet, Cope merged the team with Arnold Motorsports.

He had eight Top 10 finishes, and garnered a 15th-place finish in points.

His best finish of the season was at Phoenix, in which he led 34 laps and finished runner-up to Ricky Rudd following a late-race shootout.

At year's end, he wound up 18th in points.