---

NASCAR BGN: IWX Motor Freight Race Report

21 February 1999

Derrike Cope, driver of the No. 61 IWX Motor Freight Pontiac, finished in the 15th-position in Saturday's ALLTEL 200 NASCAR Busch Series, Grand National Division event at the North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham. Cope drove from the 43rd-starting position to secure the strong finish.

"This is exactly what we needed to do at this time," said Cope following the run. "We had a great car at Daytona, but didn't get to race it. We had a great car here today and considering where we started, we can be really proud of today's run."

Due to rain on Friday afternoon, the 43 car field was determined from last season's car owners points, a past champions spot and entry dates. The Xpress Motorsports team secured the 43rd and final starting spot of the 57 entries through the dated entry.

"The car ran really well all day long," he continued. "We had a bit of a push at times, but it was pretty good. We just started so far back and lost a lap trying to catch up. This is real encouraging for us as we head to our next event at Las Vegas."

The car returned to the Mooresville, N.C. shop with virtually no damage in an event that was slowed six times, most for major multi-car crashes. Cope completed 196 of the 197 laps and earned $7,305 for the effort. Jeff Burton won the race. Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth, Randy LaJoie, and Casey Atwood followed him.

The NASCAR Busch Series has this weekend off before heading to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Sam's Town 300 to be contested on Saturday, March 6.