Derrike Cope Racing |
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Wikipedia: Derrike Cope Racing
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History
The following section is an excerpt from Wikipedia's Derrike Cope Racing page on 10 May 2019, text available via the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Derrike Cope Racing with JP Motorsports (formerly known as Creation-Cope Racing, CFK Motorsports, Stratus Racing Group, Cope/Keller Racing and Derrike Cope, Inc, and Quest Motor Racing) was an American professional stock car racing team that competed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The team was owned by Derrike Cope, and the team fielded the No. 70 Chevrolet Camaro in the Xfinity Series for Cope. The team closed before the start of the 2017 season.
The team originally opened as Quest Motor Racing in 2001. Cope was the team's driver. During the 2003 Winston Cup season, the 37 Chevrolet attempted majority of the seasons 36 races, but only made 18. The team was sponsored by Friendly's Ice Cream. For 2004, Cope and team were to return with new sponsorship from Paramount Hospitality Management LLC (PHM). But before Speedweeks, PHM backed off, leaving Cope heavily underfunded again. Cope and team were approached by Florida businessman Don Arnold and his team, Arnold Motorsports, for a merger. Cope had attempted the 2003 finale at Homestead, but failed to qualify. The merger consisted of the 79 and 37 teams merging to create the No. 50 Arnold Motorsports Dodge. The team used Cope's 2003 Owner Points, to ensure a better chance of making races, as well as Cope's equipment. Cope successfully made the Daytona 500, but crashed and finished 30th. A few weeks later at Darlington, Cope qualified 5th, ran up front the majority of the race, but a pit road issue relegated the team to a 25th-place finish. After the Coca-Cola 600, Cope and Arnold Split, with Cope taking his equipment away from the team, but leaving Arnold with the points. The team made two attempts in 2008 in Cup, rebranded as Cope/Keller Racing, DNQ'ing in both. The team also ran a partial Nationwide schedule, fielding cars for several drivers. The team returned part-time in 2009 with sponsorship from Blu Frog Energy and Flip'n Bags.com. On December 14, 2009, Cope and Keller partnered with Dale Clemons to form Stratus Racing Group in the ARCA, Nationwide, Truck, and Cup Series. The team will field cars in all levels in 2010 including two ARCA teams and Nationwide and Truck teams. The Sprint Cup effort will be part-time in 2010 but it will increase in 2011.
In the Truck Series, Cope and nieces Angela and Amber Cope will run limited schedules. The sisters made their first starts in 2010 in the Truck Series at Martinsville. Angela ran the No. 01 Odyssey Batteries Dodge Ram and Amber in the No. 6 Dodge Ram with the same sponsors. Angela finished 30th and Amber 26th.
| Date | Article | Author/Source |
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| 29 January 2016 | E-hydrate® Back n the NASCAR Track With Derrike Cope Racing #70 At Daytona International Raceway | E-hydrate |