THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, December 27, 1994 TAG: 9412270171
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
It started at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March.
On lap 219 of the Purolator 500, Derrike Cope hit the wall in turn two in Cale Yarborough's Ford.
There was more to follow.
Cope crashed at Bristol, spun at Martinsville, was swept up in the 12-car crash at Talladega, destroyed a car at Sears Point, spun in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, wrecked at Dover, crashed at Michigan and spun twice at New Hampshire.
By then, Yarborough and Cope had had enough of each other, so Cope switched seats with Jeremy Mayfield and moved to T.W. Taylor's team. He crashed Taylor's car in the second Pocono race.
Then it was on to Bobby Allison's team. Cope performed credibly enough in Allison's Ford, with two top-10 finishes. But he had his troubles as well. He was caught in a big second-lap wreck at Michigan. He spun on the backstrech during the Southern 500. He crashed at Dover, and crashed and spun at Martinsville.
Cope closed the season with a string of five races without a wreck or spin. But it was too late. His total of 16 spins or crashes gave Cope the dubious distinction of being most trouble-prone driver in the Winston Cup series in 1994.
And you thought it was Jimmy Spencer? Well, Spencer finished in a tie with Todd Bodine for second with 15.
Take heart, Derrike. We know you can drive a race car. And win. Besides, you're in good company at the top of this list. Richard Petty won in 1991 with 18 and Davey Allison was first in 1992 with 11. Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte and Sterling Marlin tied last year with 10.
Cope, by the way, is also the leader over the past four years, with 45 spins or crashes since 1991.
At the other end of the chart in 1994 was Ken Schrader. He didn't win this year, but he didn't bend much sheet metal, either. Schrader was involved in only two incidents all year - a spin at North Wilkesboro in April and a spin at Bristol in August.
The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star's annual wallbangers survey was compiled from the race reports distributed to the press after each event. NASCAR doesn't tabulate these stats, so we do it.
A spin or a wreck is charged against a driver if his car number is listed on the race report as being involved in a spin or crash that brings out a yellow flag.
Spins that do not bring out the yellow flag are not counted, because there is no record of them on the race reports. This shortcoming can skew the stats to a degree. For example, Dale Earnhardt spun twice at Martinsville in September, but they didn't count because neither prompted a yellow flag. Most of the time, however, a spin brings out a yellow.
This year's average per driver was 8.2 crashes or spins, well above last year's average of 6.63 but still below the 1991 high of 8.6.
Meanwhile, in the stats that NASCAR does keep, Ernie Irvan stole the show.
Even though his season ended after only 20 races in a near-fatal accident during practice at Michigan, Irvan led more miles than anyone else. In fact, his total of 2,419.51 miles as the race leader was more than 300 greater than runner-up Rusty Wallace, who led 2,113.53.
Irvan also led the most times during the season - 79 - and was tied for third in the number of victories (three) and fifth in money winnings despite running less than two-thirds of the season.
Other stats leaders included Dale Earnhardt and Ricky Rudd. Earnhardt led the most important category - Winston Cup points - as well as money winnings and average finish. Rudd completed the most miles in 1994. Of almost 12,295 miles of competition, he ran all but about 248.
As for a record of futility, no one came through quite like Greg Sacks. He ran in every race and still finished 31st in Winston Cup points.
There were 11 drivers who missed one, two, three or more races, earning not a point in those events, who still finished ahead of Sacks. In fact, the next driver above Sacks in the points standings who also started every race, Bobby Labonte, finished 21st in points - 10 spots better. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ernie Irvan was airlifted to a hospital after his Aug. 20 crash at
Michigan. He recently completed a test run at a Florida course.
by CNB