Ernie Cope

Ernie Cope (born July 17, 1969) is currently the competition director at Hyak Motorsports. He is a former American stock car racing crew chief and a former competitor in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, Craftsman Truck Series and Winston West Series. He is also the cousin of 1990 Daytona 500 champion, Derrike Cope.

Driving career Cope began his professional career at the age of nineteen in the NASCAR Northwest Tour, winning the series' most popular driver award in 1994. In 1995, he moved to the Winston West Series and won Rookie of the Year honors as well as the Most Popular Driver award. Also that year he attempted to make his Winston Cup debut at Sears Point Raceway, as part of a combination race between the Winston Cup and Winston West series, but failed to qualify. He was able to qualify for the fall combination race at Phoenix International Raceway; however, he qualified last in the 44 car field, taking a provisional, and was the first car out of the race, retiring after nineteen laps due to engine failure. It would be his only Cup Series start.

In 1996, Cope raced in four Craftsman Truck Series races, all in the western United States with a best finish of nineteenth at Portland International Raceway. He finished 57th in points. He made one start each in 1997 and 1998 and made four starts in 1999 with a best finish of 22nd at Evergreen Speedway; he finished 49th in points that season, his best points finish in the series.

Crew chief career Cope retired from full-time racing at the end of the 1995 season and accepted a position at Geoff Bodine Racing to crew chief the No. 7 in the Truck Series. He was Sadler Motorsports' crew chief in 2004 and served in various capacities with Robert Yates Racing in 2005. In 2006 and 2007 he was the crew chief for Wood Brothers/JTG Racing's No. 59 team in the Busch Series. In 2008, he moved to Kevin Harvick Incorporated to crew chief the No. 2 Truck Series entry driven by Jack Sprague. In 2009 and 2010, he was the crew chief for KHI's #33 Nationwide Series entry. For 2011, Cope remained with KHI, being the crew chief for Elliott Sadler; he remained with the team when it was sold to Richard Childress Racing, acting as crew chief for the No. 33 with a variety of drivers in 2012 and 2013. In addition, he substituted for Luke Lambert as crew chief for Jeff Burton in the Sprint Cup Series in early 2013. In October 2013 he left RCR, being replaced by Nick Harrison. On December 12, 2013, it was announced that Cope would become the crew chief for the No. 5 of JR Motorsports in the Nationwide Series in 2014. On August 18, 2014, Cope was announced as the crew chief of JR Motorsports' No. 9, driven by Chase Elliott, in 2015. Cope left JR Motorsports at the end of the 2015 season to become the Competition Director at JTG Daugherty Racing beginning in 2016. He substituted for Randall Burnett as crew chief for A. J. Allmendinger at the June 2016 Axalta "We Paint Winners" 400 race at Pocono Raceway.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR (key) (Bold - Pole position awarded by time. Italics - Pole position earned by points standings. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series NASCAR Winston Cup 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 Pts Ref 1995 Lew Miller Racing 19 Chevy DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL SONDNQ CLT DOV POC MCH DAY NHA POC TAL IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO44 ATL 71st 31

Craftsman Truck Series NASCAR Craftsman Truck 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 Pts Ref 1996 Ernie Cope Racing 38 Chevy HOM PHO POR19 EVG28 TUS27 CNS31 HPT BRI NZH MLW LVL I70 IRP FLM GLN NSV RCH NHA MAR NWS SON MMR PHO LVS 57th 337 1997 Blake Motorsports 12 Chevy WDW TUS HOM PHO POR EVG I70 NHA TEX BRI NZH MLW LVL CNS HPT IRP FLM NSV GLN RCH MAR20 SON MMR CAL PHO LVS 106th 103 1998 Gloy/Rahal Racing 55 Ford WDW HOM PHO POR EVG24 I70 GLN TEX BRI MLW NZH CAL PPR IRP NHA FLM NSV HPT LVL RCH MEM GTY MAR SON MMR PHO LVS 93rd 91 1999 CJ Racing 27 Ford HOM32 PHO29 EVG22 MMR25 MAR MEM PPR I70 BRI TEX PIR GLN MLW NSV NZH MCH NHA IRP GTY HPT RCH LVS LVL TEX CAL 49th 328