Race From Obscurity -- Daytona Win Puts Cope In Spotlight

In less than a week, Derrike Cope has gone from relative obscurity to unlimited prosperity; from pretender to contender; from media midget to a man in demand.

Until last Sunday, when Cope became the first graduate of Spanaway's Bethel High School to win the Daytona 500 stock-car race at Daytona International Speedway, a person could call the Bob Whitcomb racing shop in Charlotte, N.C., and chances were good that Cope would answer the telephone.

No more.

Breaking through the celebrity telephone code last week was impossible at best. Instead of talking to Cope, a caller had a chance to talk to somebody named Kay, who said that Derrike ``was very busy but I will give him the message.''

Suddenly, Cope was being pulled here and tugged there. His time no longer was his own. Instead of fighting for recognition, he was being consumed by it.

``I had about three minutes with him on the telephone Monday,'' said Derrike's father, Don, who, with his brother, Jerry, operates Cope Brothers Automotive Machine Shop in the Tacoma suburb of Spanaway. ``Since then it's just been impossible.''

Thursday in Charlotte, Cope said he hadn't had a lot of sleep since the big victory.

``But when you're experiencing this kind of emotional high it's pretty easy to pull yourself out of bed and get going,'' he said.

Cope, 31, who became only the fourth driver to make the Daytona 500 his first Winston Cup victory, virtually silenced a crowd of 160,000 when he drove his Purolator-sponsored Chevrolet Lumina past dominating Dale Earnhardt into first place with only about a mile of the 500-mile race remaining. By running over debris on the track - a piece of bell housing off another car - a tire blew on Earnhardt's car and Cope was right there to take advantage of the situation.

That set in motion a series of events designed to satisfy a public thirsting for knowledge about this obscure driver from somewhere out West.

Cope returned Monday to Charlotte, where he was the focal point of a press conference, which was followed by live television interviews and telephone calls that lasted half the night.

Tuesday morning, Cope flew to Atlanta, where he was filmed and interviewed for a ``Motorweek Illustrated'' segment on ESPN. Then, from the airport in Atlanta that evening, he and his crew chief, Buddy Parrott, were on an ``Inside NASCAR'' Motor Racing Network radio talk show.

From Atlanta, Cope flew to New York, where he was a guest on the ``Late Night With David Letterman Show'' Wednesday night. Then it was back to Charlotte for more interviews and induction into The Winston, a lucrative race scheduled at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May. He qualified by winning the Daytona 500.

After that, Cope and his teammates left for Richmond, Va., where qualifying time trials were Friday for today's Richmond 400.

Cope and his girlfriend, Jennifer Finney of Winston-Salem, N.C., were pictured on the cover of Monday's USA Today.

Later in the week, Cope's victory was described in Sports Illustrated, which pointed out that after the race Cope had to radio Parrott to ask directions to Victory Lane.

``Sorry, Dale, but this time victory was destined for Derrike Cope (who?),'' wrote Sam Moses in Sports Illustrated. ``In only his third attempt at the 500, Cope, an unaffected 31-year-old from Spanaway, Wash. (where?), drove the race of his life . . .''

During interviews at the speedway and throughout the week, Cope handled the attention well. His responses and his presence were as smooth as the paint on his Lumina. Rattled by Letterman? No way.

``I didn't think I did that good a job, but everybody else thought I did OK,'' Cope said the next day during a press conference in Charlotte. ``He (Letterman) told me I did a good job so I guess it was OK.''

Letterman mentioned the racing legend, A.J. Foyt, who, after dropping out of the Daytona 500, complained that the smell of the glue that was used inside his crash helmet made him dizzy.

``He said that for 20 laps he was driving drunk,'' Letterman said. ``Have you ever heard of such a thing?''

Cope replied: ``Not exactly that. I went by him and he didn't look too bad.''

Later, Letterman said that he would like to own a race car like Cope's, which prompted an exchange of banter.

``Oh, yeah, we could fix you up,'' Cope said.

``How much would one cost?''

``Complete, race-ready, about $65,000.''

``But will it be street-legal?''

``No.''

Then, Letterman added: ``I want to be able to drive it around town and just scare the hell out of people. I just want people to look at this thing and just tremble.''

Cope replied: ``With you behind the wheel I'm sure they would.''

The audience erupted in laughter.

Cope's celebrity status is in sharp contrast to his status at this time a year ago, when he was driving for car owner Jim Testa, a North Carolinian of limited means. After qualifying a Pontiac relatively slow for the Daytona 500, Cope became involved in a multi-car crash during his qualifying race and failed to make the ``show.''

Less than two months later, Testa had to give up racing, leaving Cope, crew chief Dave Fuge of Auburn and members of the crew out of work. But that, as it turned out, was the ``break'' Cope needed.

At the same time, Whitcomb, a construction man who had earned a lot of money in New Hampshire, was forced to fire the driver of his racing car, Ken Bouchard, who lacked financial sponsorship. Along came Cope, who had at least a partial sponsorship from Purolator. And the rest, as they say, is history.

The Whitcomb-Parrott-Cope alliance began to show promise late last season, when Cope twice finished sixth in Winston Cup races. Then, during the offseason, the team secured Lumina-bodied cars and sound racing engines. During practice and qualifying leading up to the Daytona 500, it was obvious that Cope had something significant going for him.

``He had the third-fastest car,'' said Ron Eaton, veteran stock-car racer from Tacoma who watched the race at Daytona. ``There was Ken Schrader's car and Earnhardt's car and then there was Derrike's car.''

Eaton said he thinks Cope is ``on his way;'' that his years of frustration and toil in pursuit of his goal are paying off.

``I've got to admire him for putting a program together,'' Eaton said. ``He found the right people. He's on his way, now.''

Cope said he thinks the victory at Daytona has taken pressure off him and his teammates.

``Everything that had been written about us before said we could be the surprise team of 1990,'' Cope said. ``Our whole concept of going to Daytona was to go there and try to finish in the top 10.

``Now I think we can run a lot looser at Richmond. We can be relaxed and have a good time.

``I love driving a race car. I'm ready to go racing. I'm going to enjoy myself. If we don't win again this season, I still know that we have the potential to run up front and win.''

Cope grew up in Spanaway, graduated from Bethel High in 1976 and attended Fort Steilacoom Community College, where he established himself as a quality baseball catcher. After his second season at Fort Steilacoom he accepted an invitation to participate in a major-league instructional camp at Pompano Beach, Fla.

Then, he was admitted to Whitman College in Walla Walla, where he continued to play baseball until midway through the spring of 1979, when he suffered a serious knee injury in a game against Central Washington in Ellensburg. After catching a throw from the outfield, he twisted a knee and damaged ligaments while turning to make a throw to second base. After five hours of surgery, his baseball career was over.

It was then that he followed his father and brother into auto racing. He began racing stock cars in 1980 and progressed through the NASCAR ranks - Northwest Sportsman, Winston West, Winston Cup.

Cope's victory at Daytona put Spanaway on the map. Signs of recognition are everywhere. It's been tough for father Don, uncle Jerry, brother Derron and friend Dan Daley to get any work done in the machine shop.

``My son wins the Daytona 500 and he's still costing me money,'' said Don, whose wife, Delores, died two years ago.

``When I talked to Derrike on the telephone Monday our first comments were that we wished mother could have seen this,'' said Don, who recalled how involved his wife had been in the activities of the children.

``She was the one that kept the boys busy; she was the one who coached their teams all the while they were growing up,'' he said.

But she died before she ever saw her son race in the big leagues; she died before seeing Derrike achieve the success he had so persistently sought en route to becoming a celebrity.

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DERRIKE

COPE / BIO

-- Age: 31 (born Nov. 3, 1958).

-- Hometown: Spanaway, Pierce County.

-- Marital status: Single.

-- Education: Bethel High School (1976), Fort Steilacoom Community Colege 1976-77, 1977-78, Whitman College 1979.

-- Athletic background: Baseball player (catcher) in high school and college until he suffered a knee injury in 1979; enjoys golf.

-- Accomplishments: Winner, 1990 Daytona 500 (first NASCAR Winston Cup victory); two sixth-place finishes in Winston Cup events last year; winner of the first Winston West Evergreen 500 at Monroe in 1985; Winston West rookie of the year in 1984; NASCAR Sportsman-class champion at Yakima Speedway 1983 and 1982.