Derrike Cope Racing

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.

Derrike Cope Racing with JP Motorsports

Owner(s)	Derrike Cope
Base	Mooresville, North Carolina
Series	Xfinity Series
Race drivers	70. Derrike Cope
Sponsors	70. ICE-AID E-Hydrate
Manufacturer	Chevrolet
Opened	2001
Closed	2017
Career
Debut	Winston Cup Series: 2002 Coca-Cola Racing Family 600 (Charlotte) Xfinity Series: 2008 Meijer 300 (Kentucky) Craftsman Truck Series: 2001 Silverado 350 (Texas) ARCA Racing Series: 2012 (Salem)
Latest race	Winston Cup Series: 2003 Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400 (Rockingham) Xfinity Series: 2016 O'Reilly Auto Parts Challenge (Texas) Camping World Truck Series: 2009 O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 (Kansas)
Races competed	Total: 179 Winston Cup Series: 22 Xfinity Series: 134 Camping World Truck Series: 19 ARCA Racing Series: 4
Drivers' Championships	Total: 0 Winston Cup Series: 0 Xfinity Series: 0 Camping World Truck Series: 0 ARCA Racing Series: 0
Race victories	Total: 0 Winston Cup Series: 0 Xfinity Series: 0 Camping World Truck Series: 0 ARCA Racing Series: 0
Pole positions	Total: 0 Winston Cup Series: 0 Xfinity Series: 0 Camping World Truck Series: 0 ARCA Racing Series: 0

Organizational changes

The team originally opened as Quest Motor Racing in 2001. Cope was the team's driver, and he also co-owned the team with Warren Johnson, a drag racer. 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, but could only operate on a smaller budget compared to the competition. 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 fielded cars in all levels in 2010 including two ARCA teams and Nationwide and Truck teams. The Sprint Cup effort was part-time in 2010 but it increased in 2011.

In the Truck Series, Cope and nieces Angela and Amber Cope ran 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.

History

The team originally opened in 2001 with Derrike Cope driving the No. 37 K&N Filters Pontiac, but never made a race. The team returned in 2002, this time running the Ford Taurus. In 2003, the team planned to attempt all 36 races in the No. 37 Friendly's Ice Cream Chevrolet. Stratus Racing Group was previously called Cope/Keller Racing and Derrike Cope Inc. in Nationwide.

In the past, Stratus has fielded trucks in the Camping World Truck Series. Larry Foyt and Jennifer Jo Cobb has each ran one race for the team in 2009.

The team also fielded two cars in the NASCAR Nationwide Series under the name of Derrike Cope Inc. In 2009, the team has run the No. 73 and No. 78 cars for Cope, Kevin Lepage, and Chase Miller. The team also attempted to run a third car, No. 79, at Kansas Speedway for Cobb. The team missed the race, in fact only Lepage's car qualified out of the three. Former drivers for this effort include Larry Gunselman, Kertus Davis, Jason White, and Johnny Sauter.

Cope in his No. 73 Nationwide car in 2009

2010

Stratus was sponsored by Connectyx Technologies Holdings Group Inc for the select Nationwide and Truck races in 2010. The drivers were Derrike Cope (Nationwide) as well as Angela and Amber Cope in the Truck Series.

In their first competition of the season. Derrike Cope finished 24th in the Bud Shootout.

2011

Derrike Cope and Stratus Racing entered the 2011 Goodys Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville, but withdrew on Thursday before practice on Friday. Derrike didn't run the No. 73 Dodge Challenger in the Nationwide Series. Cope entered in the Showtime Southern 500 at Darlington. Cope has changed manufacturers from Dodge Charger to Chevrolet Impala. He was forced to withdraw from Darlington when the engine in his MAXcellence Chevrolet was tested on an engine dyno and determined to not have enough power to make the race. Cope hoped to be ready for the Sprint Showdown. When problems again plagued the team, Cope went to race for Max Q Motorsports in the 64. During the showdown race, Landon Cassill blew a tire and spun in front of Cope's Ford, causing Cope to T-bone the side of Cassill's car. Neither driver was injured.

2012

For the 2012 season, Cope changed the name of the team to CFK Motorsports. The team attempted the NNS Daytona race, but failed to make the show. Cope also drove for Robinson-Blakeney Racing. Cope also planned to enter 5-7 races in the Sprint Cup Series. Cope once again attempted to qualify at Bristol Motor Speedway, but was knocked out due to being slowest in practice and qualifying. Cope and CFK Motorsports finally made their first race in the 32nd race of the season. Cope started 36th and finished 28th.

2013

CFK returned for a part-time schedule in 2013 under the moniker of Creation-Cope Racing in a Chevy with sponsorship from MAXallence Energy. The team attempted several races with driver Derrike Cope, and only made one with Cope, a race in which they start and parked. They also ran the Mid-Ohio race with Alx Danielsson and dropped out due to a suspension failure after 35 laps.

2014

Derrike Cope Racing competed full-time in the 2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series season, driving the No. 70 Chevrolet Camaro. Cope purchased all assets from the former ML Motorsports for the 2014 season. The team tested at Daytona in January, at the annual Daytona testing event. In February, the team went to Daytona International Speedway and qualified for the Drive for COPD 300, finishing in the 37th position after some difficulties. Charlies Soap continued to sponsor the car through round number four of the season at Bristol, where Derrike finished P28. In the following race at Auto Club Speedway, the team was sponsored by Youtheory. Youtheory continued to sponsor the car full-time until the final Texas race of the season. Charlies Soap came on board in the final Charlotte race as well. Derrike finished P13 at the Firecracker 300 at Daytona in the Summer, which ended up being his best finish of the year. Derrike ended the year P23 in the Xfinity Series standings.

2015

The same plans are in place for 2015, with sponsorship from Charlie's Soap. 2015 was not a good season for the 70 team. The team missed the first race of the season and was plagued with several problems in the following weeks. During the California race weekend, Cope's team hauler was surrounded by African Swarm Bees. Sponsorship problems also plagued the team. Cope's next DNQ came at Talladega when his car was not fast enough to make the field. Cope had originally missed the July 4th race at Daytona, but the 13 MBM Motorsports car driven by Mark Thompson was found to be illegal. Thompson, who originally qualified 33rd, was wiped from the field and his spot was given to Cope. The team also ran with younger drivers who had brought sponsor dollars along. The team finished 37th in owner points.

2015 Xfinity car at Road America

2016

Cope announced at the end of the 2015 season that he would again run the full schedule in 2016, in a partnership with JP Motorsports. Sponsorship for Daytona was revealed as Ice-Aid. They would serve as primary sponsor for Daytona and associate sponsor throughout the season. The team DNQ'd at Daytona. In Atlanta, the team finished 27th with Adrenalin Powersports and Ice-Aid on board. The following week in Las Vegas, with E-hydrate and Ice-Aid on the car, the team wrecked the primary in practice. They got the back up car ready, but unfortunately cleared tech just after the qualifying session ended and did not qualify. Timmy Hill was hired to drive two road courses: Mid-Ohio and Road America. Dexter Stacey drove the car in the last 3 races of season.

2017

The team announced via Facebook that they would not be returning for the 2017 NASCAR season. Cope would return part-time to the Cup series for Premium Motorsports, and later take a managerial role at the newly formed StarCom Racing, along with driving duties.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Sprint Cup Series (primary entry)

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	Owners	Pts
2001	Derrike Cope	37	Pontiac	DAY DNQ	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	MAR	TAL	CAL	RCH	CLT DNQ	DOV	MCH	POC	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND DNQ	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MAR	TAL	PHO	CAR	HOM	ATL	NHA	60th	72
2002			Ford	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	MAR	TAL	CAL	RCH	CLT DNQ	DOV DNQ	POC	MCH 38	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC 35	IND DNQ	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH											53rd	250
	Kevin Lepage																													NHA 40	DOV	KAN	TAL	CLT	MAR	ATL	CAR
	Jeff Jefferson		Pontiac																																			PHO DNQ	HOM
2003	Derrike Cope		Chevy	DAY DNQ	CAR 43	LVS 29	ATL	DAR	BRI 43	TEX	TAL	MAR 42	CAL 43	RCH DNQ	CLT DNQ	DOV DNQ	POC DNQ	MCH 40	SON	DAY	CHI 43	NHA 35	POC 42	IND 36	GLN	MCH 34	BRI DNQ	DAR 39	RCH	NHA DNQ	DOV 35	TAL	KAN 38	CLT 37	MAR 42	ATL 40	PHO DNQ	CAR 43	HOM DNQ	43rd	1037
2008	Derrike Cope	75	Dodge	DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	TEX	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	NHA	DAY	CHI	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	TAL	CLT DNQ	MAR DNQ	ATL	TEX	PHO	HOM	55th	59
2009				DAY DNQ	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR DNQ	TEX	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV DNQ	POC DNQ	MCH	SON	NHA	DAY	CHI	IND DNQ	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	ATL	RCH	NHA DNQ	DOV	KAN	CAL	CLT	MAR	TAL	TEX	PHO	HOM	54th	144
2010				DAY DNQ	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	PHO	TEX	TAL	RCH	DAR	DOV	CLT	POC	MCH	SON	NHA	DAY	CHI	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	ATL	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	CAL	CLT	MAR	TAL	TEX	PHO	HOM	62nd	19
2011				DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	MAR	TEX	TAL	RCH	DAR	DOV	CLT	KAN	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	KEN	NHA	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	NHA	DOV	KAN	CLT	TAL	MAR DNQ	TEX	PHO	HOM	60th	0

Winston Cup Series (secondary entry)

NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	Owners	Pts
2002	Kevin Lepage	38	Ford	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	MAR	TAL	CAL	RCH	CLT 43	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	TAL	CLT	MAR	ATL	CAR	PHO	HOM	73rd	34

Xfinity Series (primary entry)

NASCAR Xfinity Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	Owners	Pts
2008	Larry Gunselman	73	Dodge	DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	NSH	TEX	PHO	MXC	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN 41																				53rd	404
	Kertus Davis																			MLW 42	NHA	DAY	CHI	GTY	IRP	CGV	GLN
	Kevin Lepage																											MCH 41	BRI 41	CAL 41	RCH	DOV 39	KAN 43	CLT 39	MEM 43	TEX 41	PHO DNQ	HOM DNQ
2009				DAY	CAL	LVS	BRI 36	TEX	NSH	PHO	TAL													IOW 39	GLN	MCH DNQ													46th	894
	Derrike Cope											RCH 22	DAR DNQ	CLT 34	DOV	NSH	KEN 22	MLW 40	NHA 37	DAY	CHI 36	GTY 38	IRP				BRI 26	CGV	ATL DNQ	RCH DNQ	DOV	KAN DNQ	CAL 39	CLT DNQ
	Chase Miller																																		MEM 39	TEX	PHO	HOM
2010	Derrike Cope			DAY DNQ	CAL 36	LVS DNQ	BRI 28	NSH 26	PHO 37	TEX DNQ	TAL DNQ	RCH 42	DAR 42		CLT DNQ	NSH 41	KEN 26	ROA	NHA	DAY 38	CHI	GTY DNQ	IRP	IOW	GLN	MCH 39	BRI 39	CGV	ATL	RCH 42	DOV 34	KAN	CAL	CLT	GTY	TEX	PHO	HOM	46th	905
	Johnny Chapman													DOV 39
2012	Derrike Cope	73	Chevy	DAY DNQ	PHO	LVS	BRI DNQ	CAL	TEX	RCH	TAL	DAR	IOW	CLT	DOV	MCH	ROA	KEN	DAY	NHA	CHI	IND	IOW	GLN	CGV	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	KEN	DOV	CLT	KAN	TEX	PHO 24	HOM			61st	20
2013				DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	TEX	RCH	TAL	DAR DNQ	CLT	DOV	IOW	MCH	ROA	KEN 39	DAY	NHA	CHI	IND	IOW	GLN				RCH DNQ	CHI	KEN	DOV	KAN	CLT DNQ	TEX	PHO	HOM			62nd	12
	Alx Danielsson																								MOH 37	BRI	ATL
2014	Derrike Cope	70		DAY 37	PHO 34	LVS 35	BRI 28	CAL 28	TEX 38	DAR 29	RCH 28	TAL DNQ	IOW 37	CLT 36	DOV 24	MCH 35	ROA 33	KEN 37	DAY 13	NHA 28	CHI 30	IND 34	IOW 34	GLN 22	MOH 32	BRI DNQ	ATL 31	RCH DNQ	CHI 36	KEN 33	DOV 37	KAN 23	CLT 25	TEX DNQ	PHO 31	HOM DNQ			35th	364
2015				DAY DNQ	ATL 36	LVS 33	PHO 33	CAL 31	TEX 36	BRI 37	RCH 35	TAL DNQ	IOW 29	CLT DNQ	DOV 28	MCH 37	CHI 35	DAY 38	KEN 33	NHA 32	IND 30		GLN 27	MOH 25	BRI 30	ROA 30	DAR 32		CHI 31	KEN 24	DOV 32	CLT 32	KAN 39	TEX 30					37th	349
	Matt Frahm																					IOW 31
	Matt Waltz																											RCH 33							PHO DNQ
	Garrett Smithley																																			HOM 28
2016	Derrike Cope			DAY DNQ	ATL 27	LVS DNQ	PHO 34	CAL 34	TEX 31	BRI 34	RCH 30	TAL DNQ	DOV 35	CLT 32	POC 37	MCH 31	IOW 34	DAY DNQ	KEN 35	NHA 35	IND 32	IOW 33	GLN 31		BRI 29		DAR 25	RCH 34	CHI 37	KEN 29	DOV 29	CLT 36	KAN 38						38th	236
	Timmy Hill																							MOH 29		ROA 23
	Dexter Stacey																																	TEX 37	PHO DNQ	HOM DNQ

Nationwide Series (secondary entry)

NASCAR Nationwide Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	Owners	Pts
2008	Nick Tucker	78	Dodge	DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	NSH	TEX	PHO	MXC	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	NHA	DAY	CHI	GTY	IRP	CGV	GLN	MCH	BRI DNQ										58th	248
	Johnny Sauter		Chevy																											CAL 42	RCH
			Dodge																													DOV 40		CLT DNQ	MEM 41	TEX DNQ
	Jennifer Jo Cobb																																KAN 30
	Jason White																																				PHO DNQ
	Derrike Cope																																					HOM DNQ

Nationwide Series (third entry)

NASCAR Nationwide Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	Owners	Pts
2009	Jennifer Jo Cobb	79	Dodge	DAY	CAL	LVS	BRI	TEX	NSH	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	NHA	DAY	CHI	GTY	IRP	IOW	GLN	MCH	BRI	CGV	ATL	RCH	DOV	KAN DNQ	CAL	CLT	MEM	TEX	PHO	HOM	64th	0

Camping World Truck Series (primary entry)

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	Owners	Pts
2001	Damon Lusk	37	Ford	DAY	HOM	MMR	MAR	GTY	DAR	PPR	DOV	TEX	MEM	MLW	KAN	KEN	NHA	IRP	NSH	CIC	NZH	RCH	SBO	TEX 11	LVS	PHO	CAL
2002	Matt Mullins			DAY 16	DAR	MAR	GTY	PPR	DOV	TEX	MEM	MLW	KAN	KEN	NHA	MCH	IRP	NSH	RCH	TEX	SBO	LVS	CAL	PHO	HOM
2008	Jennifer Jo Cobb	74	Dodge	DAY	CAL	ATL	MAR	KAN 33								KEN 26													38th	396
	Derrike Cope								CLT 36	MFD							IRP 33	NSH	BRI	GTW	NHA	LVS	TAL
	Larry Gunselman										DOV 34	TEX 35
	Nick Tucker												MCH 31	MLW 33	MEM									MAR 35	ATL	TEX	PHO	HOM
2009	Larry Foyt			DAY 20	CAL	ATL	MAR	KAN	CLT	DOV	TEX	MCH	MLW	MEM	KEN	IRP	NSH	BRI	CHI	IOW	GTW	NHA	LVS	MAR	TAL	TEX	PHO	HOM	68th	103
2010	Derrike Cope			DAY DNQ	ATL	MAR	NSH	KAN	DOV	CLT	TEX	MCH	IOW	GTW	IRP	POC	NSH	DAR	BRI	CHI	KEN DNQ	NHA	LVS	MAR	TAL	TEX	PHO	HOM	66th	95

Camping World Truck Series (secondary entry)

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	Owners	Pts
2008	Michelle Theriault	73	Dodge	DAY	CAL	ATL	MAR	KAN 35																					45th	284
	Nick Tucker								CLT DNQ	MFD	DOV 35	TEX 33					IRP 32	NSH	BRI	GTW	NHA	LVS	TAL
	Rick Markle												MCH 33
	Larry Gunselman													MLW 34	MEM	KEN
	Robert Bruce																							MAR DNQ	ATL	TEX	PHO	HOM
2009	Jennifer Jo Cobb			DAY	CAL	ATL	MAR	KAN 26	CLT	DOV	TEX	MCH	MLW	MEM	KEN	IRP	NSH	BRI	CHI	IOW	GTW	NHA	LVS	MAR	TAL	TEX	PHO	HOM	72nd	85

Footnotes

External links

• Derrike Cope Racing owner statistics at Racing-Reference
• Cope/Keller Racing official website
• Stratus Racing Group