Derrike Cope: Kroger 200 preview

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Indianapolis Raceway Park, site of Saturday night's NASCAR Busch Series stock car race, is anybody's to win - and for a good reason.

At least, that's the opinion of #49 Advil Ford driver Derrike Cope.

"Older, more experienced drivers don't necessarily have an experience advantage over the younger guys at tracks like IRP," Cope said. "Most of the younger drivers either have experience there or they have enough flat-track experience that it evens out."

Because of where younger drivers are coming from, Cope says, certain type tracks can be to their advantage.

"Where I grew up racing in Washington, flat tracks were just the norm. Every track out there was a flat track. The most banking you saw anywhere was very slight, at least, compared to what you see through a lot of the southeast," Cope said. "When I first started running flatter tracks, it was no big deal. That's what I knew.

"Look at where a lot of the younger drivers are coming from today, the Midwest and the West Coast. Those short tracks and weekly tracks are almost all flat tracks," he continued. "They have a familiarity with them, and these types of tracks are intimidating to them. The young drivers have a great chance at doing well at IRP this weekend, and I feel they'll do well at the big speedway too for the same reason."

Still, Cope and his Advil Ford team feel they have something to show at IRP as well.

"We've had a few humps to work our way over but we feel we can be pretty decent Saturday," Cope said. "The guys on this team work pretty hard. Nobody gives up. If we run through some adversity, we just take a deep breath, take a couple of Advil, and keep moving forward."