Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Crash won’t keep Cope out of Richmond Busch race

Tuesday, May 11, 2004 | 9:24 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at bh@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4089.

Derrike Cope does not plan to miss Friday night's NASCAR Busch Series race at Richmond International Raceway despite being involved in a crash during practice and briefly hospitalized this past weekend.

Cope hit the wall with the driver's side of his No. 49 Ford during practice for Saturday night's Busch Series race at Gateway International Raceway. Cope had to be cut out of the car by track safety workers and was airlifted to a nearby hospital.

Cope was released from a St. Louis hospital Saturday evening with only minor bumps and bruises. According to a team spokesman, Cope did not suffer a concussion as was reported by several media outlets.

"It was 'praise the Lord and pass the Advil,' " said Cope, whose car is sponsored by the pain relief product. "The brakes didn't burn in the way I thought they had; they locked and spun me around and I hit the wall there pretty hard.

"I'm grateful everything turned out OK, but I'm ready to get back in the car."

Josh Richeson replaced Cope in the team's backup car and finished 27th.

Roger Kingsland bought two Chevy race trucks from MacDonald Motorsports earlier this year and said he is in the process of switching them to Dodges. The elder Kingsland said the team would receive some support from Dodge.

Starr, who is competing fulltime in the Truck Series in the No. 75 Spears Manufacturing Chevrolet, signed with Holigan Racing to drive in 15 Busch Series races this season. In three Busch Series starts, Starr's best finish was 24th place Saturday night at Gateway.

"Because of his responsibilities to his Truck Series team, David asked to be released from the rest of the races this year with our team," team owner Michael Holigan said. "We are great friends with David and, while we are sorry he will not be with our team, we totally understand his need to be with a team running the full season. We wish him the best."

Holigan said he is interviewing drivers to find a replacement for Starr.

Gordon, who also is running a full-time Nextel Cup schedule for Richard Childress Racing and this month's Indianapolis 500 with his own IndyCar team, is trying to find a sponsor for the 10 races Fruit of the Loom will not be on the car so he can make a run at the series championship.

"We didn't even consider making a run at the full 34-race (Busch Series) schedule when the season began," Gordon said. "My focus was, and continues to be, on winning a NASCAR Cup Series championship with my Cingular Wireless team, and on winning as many Busch Series races as possible for Fruit of the Loom.

"To be honest with you, we didn't necessarily expect to be this close to the points lead after nine races with a brand new team. Now that we are, and given that we're getting better as a team every time out, we've added winning a Busch Series championship to the objectives for the year."

In an effort to attract a sponsor for the remaining Busch Series races -- Fruit of the Loom agreed to a 24-race deal this season -- Gordon said a sponsor participating in all nine available Busch Series races also would receive a position on his Indianapolis 500 car.

AT THE BULLRING: Mike Ray edged Mike Cofer by .042 seconds and won the 50-lap Super Late Models main event Saturday night at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It was Ray's second victory of the season.

Other winners Saturday night: Doug Hamm (Late Models); Jimmy Parker, Jr. (Pro/ Master Legends Cars); Dustin Ash (Semi-Pro Legends Cars); Richard Rusin (Thunder Roadsters); Jeremiah Wagner (Bandolero Cars); and Rich Brower (Bullring Bombers).