Mike Cope (born May 8, 1962) is a retired American stock car racing driver.[1] A two-time champion of the NASCAR Slim Jim All Pro Series, he also competed in the NASCAR Busch Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. He is no relation to Daytona 500 winner Derrike Cope.

Mike Cope
Born (1962-05-08) May 8, 1962 (age 62)
Pinellas Park, Florida
Achievements1994, 1996 Slim Jim All Pro Series Champion
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
18 races run over 2 years
Best finish40th (1998)
First race1996 Stanley 200 (Loudon)
Last race1998 Myrtle Beach 250 (Myrtle Beach)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 2 0
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
13 races run over 3 years
Best finish40th (1997)
First race1997 Florida Dodge Dealers 400 (Homestead)
Last race2000 Line-X 225 (Portland)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
Statistics current as of February 16, 2012.

Early career

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Mike began his NASCAR career in 1989, competing in the Slim Jim All Pro Series, a regional touring series centered on the southeastern United States. He won two series championships, in 1994 and 1996, as well as being voted Most Popular Driver three times. In addition he won the prestigious Winchester 400 three years in a row, from 1993 to 1995.

NASCAR touring series

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Cope made his debut at the major-league NASCAR level in 1996 in the Busch Series at the Milwaukee Mile. Driving the No. 58 he finished 25th, three laps down. In 1997 he attempted to move full-time to the Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 15 for Billy Ballew Motorsports. His first race was at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where he finished 22nd. He ran in five other races over the course of the year before being released from his contract, with a best finish of 12th at New Hampshire International Speedway.

In 1998 he attempted to move full-time to the Busch Series, driving the No. 30 for Team 34. Running in 17 races, his best finish was 7th at Hickory Speedway, however inconsistent performance led him to be released by the team following the series' race at Myrtle Beach Speedway, being replaced in the No. 30 by Todd Bodine.

Cope ran a single race in the Craftsman Truck Series in 1999, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway where he finished 14th, before once more attempting the full series schedule in 2000 for Impact Motorsports in the No. 86, with sponsorship from R.C. Cola. Despite the team having had good performance the previous year with Stacy Compton driving, Cope struggled, posting a best finish of 12th in six races with the team, that coming in the first race of the season at Daytona International Speedway. At the seventh race of the season, at Gateway International Raceway, Cope did not accompany the team to the track; he was subsequently released, being replaced in the No. 86 by Scott Riggs.

Post-NASCAR career

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Following his departure from Impact Motorsports Cope moved to the American Speed Association, starting his own race team in Hudson, Florida and running the No. 25 Chevrolet with sponsorship from Manheim Auto Auctions. He ran in the series, building and driving his own cars, through 2005 when he retired, planning to focus on the racing career of his son, Travis Cope as driver, competing in Super Late Model events. Mike cope racing presently fields 5 cars in SCCA pro Trans am 2 road racing with multiple wins and pole awards. And in 2013 Mike Cope became an authorized chassis builder for the TA2 series.

Track Owner

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In 2001 Mike bought Bronson Motor Speedway, a paved oval track located 12 miles (19 km) west of Gainesville, Florida which he owned and operated for ten years before selling the track in 2011.

Motorsports career results

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Busch Series

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NASCAR Busch Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 NBSC Pts Ref
1995 DAY CAR RCH ATL NSV DAR BRI HCY NHA NZH
DNQ
CLT DOV MYB sGLN MLW TAL SBO IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT CAR HOM NA 0 [2]
1996 KEL Racing 58 Chevy DAY CAR RCH ATL NSV DAR BRI HCY NZH CLT DOV SBO MYB GLN MLW NHA
25
TAL IRP
DNQ
MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT CAR HOM 90th 88 [3]
1998 Team 34 30 Chevy DAY
42
CAR
34
LVS
40
NSV
40
DAR
40
BRI
15
TEX
24
HCY
7
TAL
18
NHA
38
NZH
30
CLT
DNQ
DOV
33
RCH
33
PPR
9
GLN
35
MLW
26
MYB
31
CAL SBO IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT GTY CAR ATL HOM 40th 1292 [4]

References

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  1. ^ "NASCAR.com - Drivers". www.nascar.com. Archived from the original on 2004-05-01.
  2. ^ "Mike Cope – 1995 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
  3. ^ "Mike Cope – 1996 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
  4. ^ "Mike Cope – 1998 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
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Sporting positions
Preceded by NASCAR Slim Jim All Pro Series Champion
1994
Succeeded by
Preceded by NASCAR Slim Jim All Pro Series Champion
1996
Succeeded by