A fine from NASCAR has crippled the efforts of Derrike Cope for the remainder of the spring. Credit: Autostock

When money hurts worse than points

Fines stall small teams much more than point deductions

NASCAR's penchant for levying monetary fines upon its multi-car conglomerate team owners is often laughable, and rarely equates to much more than a brisk slap on the wrist.

Twenty-five grand to Rick Hendrick is a dig through the couch cushions.

	MARTY SMITH •   E-mail Marty •   Opinion Archive •   Store: 'I Agree With Marty' tee

We've all said it -- Hit 'em where it hurts, NASCAR, with significant points deductions. Money hurts no one.

Or so I thought, until I had an enlightening conversation with Derrike Cope earlier this week. Monetary fines will crush a small team, already sponsor-deprived and financially strapped.

This is a story about the little guy, how an ill-timed --- and questionable, according to Cope --- penalty renders his team immobile.

First, some background.

When Cope sped past Dale Earnhardt's wrecking Chevrolet to win the 1990 Daytona 500, his Chevy was sponsored by Purolator oil filters at about $700,000 annually.

Not bad, but nowhere near the $3 million per year average that full-time Cup Series teams commanded at the time.

Story of Cope's life.

Sixteen years later, median Cup Series sponsorships have jumped to roughly $14 million. And there's Derrike Cope, still chasing the dream on minimal funding --- less funding, in fact, than he had on that landmark Daytona Beach Sunday all those years ago.

"I had more [sponsorship] money the year I won Daytona than we're working with now," Cope said Tuesday.

Cope's current team, McGlynn Racing, entered the year thinking they'd secured ample backing to efficiently achieve a desirable level of consistency. But funding hinged on a new product launch that fell behind schedule, and the sponsorship never materialized.

So here they are, treading water. Uphill climb doesn't even start ...

	Credit: Autostock
	Inside the Numbers Derrike Cope in the Cup Series Starts 400 Wins 2 Top-5s 6 Top-10s 32 Poles 1 Avg. Start 23.9 Avg. Finish 26.0 Lead-lap Finishes 47 Laps Run 99,987 Laps Led 282 Career Earnings $9,192,176

To quantify just how steep a grade Cope must trudge, one need only look under his hood. The engine in his No. 74 Dodge is injured, abused, beaten to the brink of submission.

But like a prize fighter in the late rounds, it keeps pounding, experts and onlookers alike astonished by its fortitude.

After eight qualifying attempts, myriad practice laps and 169 laps of rigorous competition at Texas Motor Speedway last week, the engine has yet to see new valve springs. That is ridiculous.

By comparison, Ford Racing's Roush/Yates engine tuners check and recheck the elasticity ("lash," they call it) of every valve spring on every Ford Fusion following every Happy Hour practice session every weekend.

If one such spring is too loose, or fails to meet the inspector's expectations, it is replaced with a tighter one. Sometimes, I'm told, every last one of them is switched out for safe measure.

And here Cope hasn't changed a single one all year. Yet he made the show at Texas, out-qualifying defending champion Tony Stewart to boot. He ultimately finished 41st, good enough for $78,760.

But in doing so, he penned the death certificate for that engine.

NASCAR then signed it with a crushing penalty.

McGlynn Racing was issued a $50,000 fine for placing what Cope described as a short-track manifold on that battered engine. Cope said the manifold was bolted on, and hadn't even entered the inspection line when it was confiscated by NASCAR officials. It had been run previously in the season, he said.

Cope said he feels someone from another team mentioned it to NASCAR in an attempt to cover up various strategies used by bigger teams.

"Basically, we own one motor, it has a short-track manifold," Cope explained. "Evidently there's been some issues come to light that have transpired with some bigger teams, and I think they used us as a scapegoat. We got an untimely fine of magnitude, which I feel was a bit unfair.

"I could see $50,000 for a restrictor-plate manifold. But coming from an engine background, I know this is not that big a deal. It makes some horsepower gains, but it's not the division point of being really outstanding.

"To fine us $50,000 for a regular manifold on an open motor is ridiculous. I don't think there was a lot of common sense used, and that's something I was obviously disappointed in."

Worse yet, the hefty penalty means McGlynn Racing must forego the trek west to Phoenix, Ariz., for this weekend's Subway Fresh 500. They'll also miss Talladega, too, simply don't have enough money.

It also puts a damper on their effort at Richmond International Raceway. While most teams tested Richmond last week in preparation for the upcoming Crown Royal 400, Cope stayed home.

"We just couldn't afford to go," Cope said. "We only had the one motor, and after we ran Texas with it, it was smoking pretty badly, whimpering. We ran some pretty heavy RPM. It really wasn't feasible for us to go up there and buy tires for a two-day test."

In a world where $15 million might get you top-10 finishes, it takes a team like McGlynn to refocus perspective on what $50,000 means to a struggling race team.

"We needed to try to pay a lot of bills," Cope said. "Tires. Most teams can put four sets of tires on before qualifying. We only get three sets. That puts us at a disadvantage to get qualified.

"Then you miss a race. You have hotels, travel, the three crew guys we have full-time -- all the rest of our guys are volunteers. So you take those costs there, and the timing on the motor and all that, and miss an event, and pretty soon you're in the hole $18,000. That accumulates quickly."

Then you make Texas, a race with third-richest overall purse of the season, and that bleeding stops. Briefly.

"That helps us think we're going to get some revenue to pay our bills, and get to Phoenix and try to parlay that into another event," Cope said. "But that fine put a cramp in our style. We have to regroup."

It's not the first time. The McGlynn Racing transporter broke down en route to Las Vegas earlier this season. Cope was despondent.

"With a small team you have no recourse. It was difficult, but what do you do?" he said. "You have no other transporter. You're down on personnel. And again the funds. To rectify that takes a pretty big operation, to solve that issue and get your cars out there and make it happen.

"We got a late start as it was. Our guys thrashed just to get the car that we'd purchased ready to go out there. And we were late leaving. That left us no margin for error. And that's what transpired. That's the least of our troubles.

"We're fortunate to have a motor that's still starts up and hasn't broken a valve spring or valve. That's a testament to how well it's built in the first place. But they're not making a lot of power. They're a lot more volatile when they're making power."

Cope is pleased with his cars, all eight of which, he said, were purchased from Penske Racing South. He said the 74 team has made considerable geometrical gains over the past two months, but it struggles to keep up with the weekly evolution of speed production.

"We're car rich and engine poor right now," he said. "I know we have the ability to run with these guys. We out-qualified some quality equipment at Texas. That's a fast, high-horsepower, aero-dependant racetrack. So we can't be that far off with very mediocre equipment."

When asked what a lagging motor such as Cope's would mean, Elliott Sadler said "no room for error." The chassis would have to be absolutely perfect, because a driver wouldn't have the luxury of correcting a time-costly mistake with horsepower.

The best car in Cope's arsenal hasn't yet graced the track. It was to attempt Bristol, but unseasonable snow flurries sent it packing.

A man can live with that. Mother Nature plays no favorites.

But 50 grand for an unapproved intake manifold?

I didn't think I'd ever seen evidence of it, but this is one instance when money hurts much worse than points would have.

"When you're locking in 35 cars and giving freebies to guys and teams that have a lot of equipment, it's a difficult task. But we're up for it," Cope said. "I'm upbeat because we have fun. And when we have a poor day we can laugh about it, go have a milkshake and go home.

"There's a lot to be said for that. We have to go find money and prove to people that if they'll spend $5 million with us we can make races and give you a marketing platform. You get your ticket to the dance for a third of the cost."

Story of Derrike Cope's life.

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.