Cope Out and Mike Wallace in

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Team owner Don Arnold of Naples said late Tuesday afternoon that he will replace driver Derrike Cope with Mike Wallace for Sunday's MNBA 400 at the Dover International Speedway in Dover, Del. Wallace through the 2004 season has been piloting the #4 Geico/Sportclips Ford in the NASCAR Busch Series. "I think you know where I'm going with this," said Arnold, whose Nextel Cup Series team has struggled to find consistent corporate sponsorship since it debuted last summer in a Brick yard 400 qualifying attempt in Indianapolis. In the recent Nextel Open race in Charlotte, Arnold had the Geico sponsorship on the hood of the car driven by Cope and changed the overall paint scheme from gold and red to all-red. Geico will sponsor the car this weekend. "We've decided not to use Derrike at this point," Arnold went on. "We may go back to him, but right now we're going to try some options on drivers. Derrike has done an awful lot to help us progress and bring our group forward. He brought the program a long way." Arnold said he made the decision to change drivers along with crew chief Mike Hillman, who had a previous association with Wallace for A.J. Foyt Racing two years ago. In addition to giving Wallace a chance behind the wheel, Arnold said he would have P.J. Jones drive the #50 Dodge at Pocono on June 13 after earlier lining up Jones to handle the upcoming road course event at Sonoma on June 27. "Certainly I am not pleased. This wasn't something I anticipated," a disappointed Cope said Tuesday night. "I haven't talked to Don yet. He wasn't the one who told me. So it's difficult to comment. He owns the race team and he has to do what he thinks is best for his team. That's just the way this sport goes sometimes. There are no hard feelings," Cope added. "Some things happen for a reason. I'll talk to Don (today) and go pick up a couple of my racecars I have in his shop." Cope, who managed his own Cup team a year ago, said he wouldn't try to qualify on his own this weekend at Dover. "I wouldn't want to do that," he said. "I want to be proficient and that's putting a lot on your plate."(Naples Daily News)(6-2-2004)

http://www.naplesnews.com/npdn/sports/arti...2931208,00.html
 
I may be wrong but it Sounds like Cope got the boot for Sponsership.
 
Geico will sponsor the car this weekend.
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I wonder if Geico wanted someone else because they were having to pay out too much in claims with Cope driving. :blink:
 
Originally posted by barelypure@Jun 2 2004, 10:11 AM
Geico will sponsor the car this weekend.
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I wonder if Geico wanted someone else because they were having to pay out too much in claims with Cope driving. :blink:
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Good Point :cheers:
 
I heard that the little lizzard wouldn't get in the race car with Cope... :p
 
Originally posted by redrock@Jun 2 2004, 12:27 PM
I heard that the little lizzard wouldn't get in the race car with Cope... :p
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Needed a bigger booster seat so he could drive?
 
Originally posted by redrock@Jun 2 2004, 05:27 PM
I heard that the little lizzard wouldn't get in the race car with Cope... :p
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Thats gecko not lizard! :D
 
I'm not a race car driver, but I did save a lot of money by switching to Geico.
 
Originally posted by WideOpenPhoto@Jun 2 2004, 06:28 PM
I'm not a race car driver, but I did save a lot of money by switching to Geico.
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HAhahahaha that made my day!
 
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