Derrike Cope, winner of the 1990 Daytona 500, was well and truly away from the pressures as well as the highs of NASCAR after 2021. Starcom Racing, the team he managed, had sold its Cup Series charter to 23XI Racing and moved to Trans-Am Racing. Cope, too, dipped into the road racing discipline for a bit, and played an awful lot of golf in his free time. But something did not sit right.
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Derrike, who has been associated with NASCAR since the 1980s, just couldn’t bring himself to enjoy anything other than stock car racing. Cope literally couldn’t cope. And the 66-year-old is back. As a team owner this time.
This week, the NASCAR icon announced the launch of Cope Family Racing (CFR), which will compete full-time in the Xfinity Series in 2025. Leland Honeyman Jr. and Thomas Annunziata will split the No. 70 CFR car between themselves.
Honeyman Jr. will drive it on the superspeedways and intermediates, while Annunziata will take over on road courses. Cope is beyond thrilled that he has found his way back home.
“I love NASCAR. I enjoy road racing, and I think we’ve learned a lot doing it to help us this year. We’re going to be well-rounded, but I have missed NASCAR racing,” Cope told Sportsnaut.
The fans are, however, wondering whether they will get to see Cope behind the wheel once again now that he is here.
Mike Wallace can’t convince Cope into racing in 2025
Winning the Great American Race is no ordinary feat. And to do it in the 1990s, the golden age of the sport, is a legendary flex. Cope’s return to racing will be a spectacle in itself.
But he has not thought of putting his racing gloves back on, yet. Even his former colleague Mike Wallace’s announcement that he would participate in the 2025 Daytona 500 has not awakened the racing bug in Cope.
Derrike wished Wallace good luck, saying, “I’ve already done that in 2021. He’s a really good superspeedway racer and if it makes him happy, especially given what he’s gone through the past year, more power to him.” Wallace’s wife, Carla, had passed away last year after a battle with cancer.
“I think it takes a little bit of time for your muscle memory to catch up,” added Cope, talking about the challenges a comeback entails.
Cope started 280 races in the Cup Series between 1982 and 2021. His final start came for Rick Ware Racing in the 2021 Daytona 500.
Cope, who was 63 at the time, started the race from 32nd place and completed just three laps before an accident forced him to retire. Following a brief break, his journey in NASCAR is now set to continue, albeit in a new role.
