Charter 250 - Derrike Cope Notes

Gateway – Oval With A ‘Road Course Feel’
Cope, Advil Ford team ready for Busch Series race

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – As far as Advil Ford driver Derrike Cope is concerned, NASCAR’s Busch Series might as well be heading to a road course this week instead of the 1.25-mile Gateway International Raceway, just outside of St. Louis.

“Well, it’s obviously not the same as a road course,” said Cope, one of a handful of drivers running the full NASCAR Cup and Busch Series schedules this season, “but there is definitely a road course feel to the place. I’d say guys who are usually better on road courses will be the guys to beat at Gateway.”

Cope, who is a former Daytona 500 winner, is one of the better road course racers in NASCAR.

“That’s helpful but it’s not everything. Gateway is mostly oval with that road course feel. That makes the track different from just about everything else out there,” he said.

“Handling is just about everything there. Sure, you have to have plenty of horsepower and you have to have some ‘oomph!’ down the straightaways but how you handle determines how well you can use that horsepower,” he said.

The configuration of the track makes it challenging, but fun to drive, he said.

“The corners are very tight, and then you have the added dimension of having to shift (gears) because of the disparity of the straightaways. That’s what gives it that road course feel,” Cope said. “The car has to turn well there but you really need to get off the corners well. To do that, you use a shorter gear and then shift going down the straightaways.”

Jay Robinson, who owns the team and fields the Advil Ford from his Jay Robinson Racing shop just outside of Charlotte, knows the importance of running well.

“The St. Louis area is obviously a pretty big market, and one of the biggest markets the Busch Series runs in,” Robinson said. “That makes it important for Advil and all of our sponsors. Obviously, national television is pretty important too, but this is the only chance we get at Gateway this year, so we want to make it count.

The Advil Ford, one of two cars fielded by Robinson on the NASCAR Busch Series, is not among the “high-buck” operations but you would never know by watching the team, on and off the track. Its cars and haulers are as high-quality as anything in the series, and both teams carry themselves as well as any on the circuit.

“You make do with what you have, sure, but we’ve based our team on giving the sponsors as much as we possibly can,” said Robinson, who is in his fourth year as a Busch Series owner after four years as owner-driver of a Late Model car.

“If I have one dollar, we make it look like we are getting two dollars. If I have a million dollars (in sponsorship), we make it look like we’re getting two million,” he said. “We’re in this to compete, to do the best we can week in and week out. We want to run well and we want to win.

“But we know our sponsors like Advil and Yahoo! (which sponsors Robinson’s #39 Ford on the Busch Series) are looking for a solid return too, so we do everything we can to make it a great experience for them. We’ve been able to develop a giant sampling program for Advil at some race tracks, and they are getting some good positive exposure here too,” he added.

The fact Gateway is the only one of NASCAR’s top series running this weekend is important too.

“We’re the only game in town, as far as television is concerned this weekend,” Robinson said. “You have to figure the race fans are going to tune in to this one because they love racing, and because this is the only race they have this weekend.”

Cope, a native of Spanaway, Wash., is a two-time NASCAR Nextel Cup race winner. A top athlete whose professional baseball career was cut short by a knee injury in college, he has become one of the top athletes in NASCAR racing, and has become one of the top public spokesmen for the sport.

Jay Robinson Racing, in its fourth season of operation, is one of the fastest-growing teams in NASCAR. Robinson, a Charlotte, N.C., native who is a successful businessman, founded the team as a high-value endeavor that offers high-end equipment and efforts, while proving to be one of the most cost-efficient teams in the sport. Robinson fields two sponsored cars fulltime on the Busch Series: Cope’s #49 Advil Ford and the #39 Yahoo! Ford, which Cope is helping mentor.