Nascar Odds Dover 2018
NASCAR driver Derrike Cope is returning to the track for what his team is calling his final Daytona 500 start. And he’s doing it at 62 years old.
Other competitor in the field — or concerned that he’ll be running his first NASCAR race since 2018, he has a message. 500 win with a victory later in that 1990. The 2020 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series was the 26th season of the third highest stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in North America. The season began at Daytona International Speedway with the NextEra Energy 250 on February 14.
Cope will drive the No. 15 Chevrolet for Rick Ware Racing in the February 14 season opener and is guaranteed a spot in the race. He won the 1990 Daytona 500, and the only other checkered flag in his 427 Cup Series races was the 1990 spring race at Dover International Speedway.
However, this will be his first race at Daytona International Speedway since 2004 and his first start overall since the 2018 Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, where he finished 33rd — a high among the three races he ran that season.
“I have known Rick and his family for a long time and I am excited to have the opportunity to go to Daytona and race for another win!” Cope — who’s also the team manager for current Cup Series team StarCom Racing — said via a team release, adding that he “could not be more excited” to return to the iconic track.
We were underdogs heading into the 1990 #DAYTONA500, and we are underdogs now.
Many things have changed, but our drive and passion remain the same. 🏆 🏁 pic.twitter.com/mezqXIckwo
— Derrike Cope (@DCopeRacing) January 20, 2021A 62-year-old athlete competing as a professional is rare, it’s not totally unheard of in NASCAR. But to put this into context compared with Cope’s current Daytona 500 competitors, he’s 17 years older than Kevin Harvick — who’s now the oldest full-time Cup Series driver — and nearly 40 years older than the Cup Series’ reigning champion, Chase Elliott.
Speaking to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Tuesday, Cope explained his mentality headed into the Daytona 500. He said:
“I’m not your average 62 year old. I think I’m pretty young at heart. I’m in pretty good shape. Obviously, I’ve lost about 20 pounds over the winter working out, so I feel good about going to Daytona. I think Daytona really is a thinking-man’s race. I think you really have to stay within yourself and know what you have for a race car. And one thing you have to know is you have to understand the air and how to be manipulating people and getting people to do what you want them to do.
“So I feel very confident in regard to that, so I’ll go down there and drive within myself and my capabilities, and hopefully, I’ll find the patience necessary to get myself to run all 200 laps. And if that transpires, then I think I can be in a position to go out there and do battle at the end, and it won’t be easy for anybody if I get to that point.”
On tonight's Late Shift, 1990 @DAYTONA 500 winner, @DCopeRacing joined @BradGillie & @BradDaugherty43 and gave his thoughts on competing in his first Daytona 500 since 2004...👇@RickWareRacing #NASCARpic.twitter.com/FFgQEFLw7R
— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) January 20, 2021The season-opening 2021 Daytona 500 is scheduled for Sunday, February 14 at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX.
