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Amber started 43rd and finished 33 laps behind
in 26th in the Nationwide race at Loudon.
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Snippets
News
NASCAR’s Cope
twins in racy Maxim spread
Truck Series is
about to get a double injection of
style
Racing's Cope
Twins look good, go fast
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Profile
Born: August 18, 1983 (both)
Origin: Puyallup, WA
Height: 5' 3?
The first Twins of NASCAR!
For continuing in the family business of NASCAR
and offering something a little new to a sport that
is otherwise all testosterone and octane. These
fraternal twins are the nieces of 1990 Daytona 500
winner, Derrike Cope, and are also third-generation
members of that racing family.
They began racing at the age of 9 in Go karts
and quickly made names for themselves by winning
poles and races year after year. At the young age
of 15 they step up to late model race cars even
before they had their license to drive. They
instantly acquired national attention when they
were featured on Bryant Gumble “Good Morning
Today”.
In 2002, Angela Cope won the Lucas Oil Can-Am
150 at the Sun Valley Speedway. In 2008 they both
qualified for the ARCA Re/Max series at Kentucky
Speedway, in the 8th and 15th spots. They trained
under their uncle Derrike and in 2006, they split
driving time in the ARCA Re/Max Series at Berlin,
Gateway, Chicagoland, Milwaukee and Toledo. The
twins competed against their uncle earlier this
year and have plans to compete in five or six races
for the year. The Copes are also admitted fashion
enthusiasts and have an online boutique on their
website.
After numerous feature wins and pole position
these two attractive and dynamic young women are
ready to take the next step towards to the most
elite form of
motorsports…”NASCAR”.
They’re currently competing in
NASCAR’s Nationwide Series, becoming the first
twins ever to do so. They’ve been racing
consistently since they were nine years old and
from 2001 – 2010 they competed in 47 races in
Super Late Models and Automobile Racing Club of
America (ARCA).
Snippets
NASCAR’s Cope twins in racy Maxim spread.
* * *
NASCAR Truck Series is about to get a
double injection of style Amber and Angela Cope
hoping to blaze a new trail.
* * *
Amber tested for the 2010 ARCA
Racing Series at Daytona. She was the 9th
fastest woman and 53rd out of 60 drivers.
News
NASCAR’s Cope twins in
racy Maxim spread
Amber and Angela Cope realized a lifelong dream
when the twins both made their NASCAR debuts in the
same race in 2010.
They realized another dream last year when
Angela finished ahead of her uncle, 1990 Daytona
500 winner Derrike Cope, in a Nationwide Series
race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Now the racers/models have realized another
dream, perhaps, by being featured together in Maxim
magazine.
The Cope twins are featured in the March issue
under the headline “Twin Turbos.” They
were photographed wearing black, bikini swimsuits
and, in another spread, wearing cutoff blue jeans
and denim overalls as they lean against their
NASCAR stock car.
The twins began racing when they were nine years
old and worked their way up through the go-kart and
late model ranks. Both have raced in the ARCA
Series and they became the first twins to make a
NASCAR race when they qualified for the 2010
Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville
Speedway, finishing 26th (Amber) and 30th
(Angela).
Source: aol.sportingnews.com/nascar/story/2012-02-17/nascars-cope-twins-in-racy-maxim-spread?icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl7%7Csec3_lnk2%26pLid%3D136731
Truck Series is about
to get a double injection of style. Amber and
Angela Cope hoping to blaze a new trail
When cosmetologists graduate from beauty school,
naturally they go to the salon for employment. But
that's not always the case. According to a
particular pair I spoke with, they're going truck
racing instead.
Angela and Amber Cope, twin sisters and the
nieces of 1990 Daytona 500 winner Derrike Cope, are
on a mission to show NASCAR that you can beat and
bang on the race track and look hot at the same
time.
* Female drivers
How so?
Think Christina Aguilera before motherhood and
then put her in a fire suit. You now have an idea
of what the Cope twins, who started racing go-karts
at age 9 across the Northwest, look like.
Their stock-car racing began nearly five years
ago when the sisters left Puyallup, Wash., and
moved cross-country to Mooresville, N.C., upon
their uncle's request. He knew they had an interest
and wanted to turn them into hard-core racers. But
first he would have to make some concessions about
their glitzy exteriors and learn how to be a
surrogate father.
"I can put up with the platinum hair and makeup,
but I told them we can't do heels or holes in the
jeans at the track," said Derrike Cope, who
divorced years ago and never had children of his
own. "Angela and Amber -- any female racer for that
matter -- they come with a unique set of challenges
but the girls know I have a strong work ethic and
we've become close over the years."
A veteran of 409 Cup Series starts, Cope
recently launched Stratus Racing Group Inc. and
will compete in the Nationwide and Truck series.
Cope will drive in both series while the twins are
slated to drive in a limited number of Truck
races.
And there's only so much funding to go around,
therefore, the twins will be forced to share the
ride. Fortunate for them, sharing is not a new
concept. Outside of their go-kart days, the twins
have split seat time in every ride they've ever
campaigned -- be it super late models or ARCA
cars.
"We trade off every other race and when Amber is
in the car I will spot for her or help her out and
when I'm in the car she helps me get buckled in and
will give me pointers on track conditions," Angela
Cope said.
Looking to secure sponsorship and start NASCAR's
approval process for superspeedways, Amber and
Angela attended the highly-publicized ARCA test on
Dec. 18-20 in Daytona where Danica Patrick and six
other females all made laps.“
I think the obstacles we run into is that we are
girly girls, we are blonde and everyone thinks that
we are out to be models not racers. We will make
our mark in this sport, earn everyone's respect and
look great. There has to be a woman driver that
will have it all.”- Angela Copea
Amber and Angela didn't top the speed charts,
nor were they the fastest of the females, but
gaining notoriety or capitalizing on Patrick's
entry into NASCAR is not their focus.
"We were out there to just get some laps, we are
not looking to run ARCA, we just needed to get back
in a car after being out for over a year and we
were out there for our sponsors," Angela said.
But the Copes do admit the timing can only help
generate buzz and media attention for their truck
debut, which may be at Martinsville, the same track
Chrissy Wallace debuted
at in 2008.
However, Wallace, like so many other aspiring
talents -- female or not -- doesn't have
sponsorship and, therefore, no ride for 2010.
Strategic and mindful of how important long-term
financial support is, the Cope twins fear their
careers will stall out as well.
"We've been trying for a long time now and
that's why we both went to cosmetology school and
both had jobs," Angela said. "The funding was never
there for us and we never found anyone to back us
up."
In addition to financial pressures, Angela said
she fears the NASCAR community will not take the
twins seriously.
"I think the obstacles we run into is that we
are girly girls, we are blonde and everyone thinks
that we are out to be models not racers," she said.
"We will make our mark in this sport, earn
everyone's respect and look great. There has to be
a woman driver that will have it all."
Yes, and Danica hopes
it is her. The open-wheel star has already
established her total package status in the IndyCar
Series. Time will tell how far her talents and
charm will take her in the NASCAR community. So
it's still anyone's guess as to who will be
NASCAR's next great female racer or how long she
will stay.
The Cope twins want a shot. And with some
stock-car racing under their belts and
round-the-clock guidance from their uncle, it could
happen.
"I know female racers come and go, but it just
comes down to driving on a consistent basis,"
Derrike Cope said. "These girls are going to go
through the process and build from there. We are
going to show up and serve our time."
One thing is certain, the twins are going to
stand out among the seasoned, rough-and-tumble
truck drivers.
"We'll be hard to miss with our platinum blonde
hair and big Dior glasses," Angela said.
Source: www.nascar.com/2010/news/opinion/01/15/splash.go.rswan.acope.amcope.truck/story_single.html
Racing's Cope Twins look
good, go fast
Newton, Ia. — The Cope twins are heaven on the
eyes and hell on four wheels. The first thing you
notice on their website is this giant picture of
Angela and Amber, posing in strapless black
dresses. A click on the photo gallery sends you to
a collection of 10 shots: four glamour pics in
those same black dresses and six from the track.
It’s an eclectic mix, pitched somewhere
between Sports Illustrated and Vogue.
“At this point, the name of the game and
what it is today, you’ve got to use whatever
you can possibly use,” Angela says,
matter-of-factly. “I mean, we’re trying
to take every opportunity we can right now to get
money in the door, to get people to believe in
us.”
For the Copes, good looks are as much a business
strategy as they are a blessing. Such is life when
you’re a female driver in a male-dominated,
testosterone-fueled world of professional stock car
racing, the goodest and oldest of the good ol’
boy networks.
“I think you could go back to a time in the
sport when ladies weren’t allowed in the
garages at all, let alone participate as a
driver,” series director Joe Balash says of
Sunday’s John Deere Dealers of Iowa 250 —
the first NASCAR Nationwide race ever slated to
feature three women in the field. “So when
you’re having a change in what the thought
process is, and you welcome female drivers into the
garage — and not only drivers but mechanics
and crew chiefs and spotters — the sport is
open to anybody that wants to compete in
it.”
The revolution is still a work in progress, and
it didn’t happen overnight. Since 1991, the
Nationwide series has featured multiple women
drivers in a race 18 times. But never more than two
— until now.
“There’s a lot of good that comes out
of being a female driver and there’s a lot of
bad that comes out of being a female driver,”
offers NASCAR veteran driver and owner Jennifer Jo
Cobb, the third woman scheduled to run at Iowa
Speedway. “It’s still sort of in a bit of
a pioneering stage, and that can become tough
sometimes. And what’s really tough is when
you’re struggling, you’re
highlighted.”
Cobb has a top-10 finish and more than $330,000
in career winnings on NASCAR’s Camping World
Truck series circuit, but the jump to Nationwide
has been a far bumpier road. Of her seven starts
this season, the Kansas native has finished only
two.
“I’m blessed with a really good and I
feel like a large fan base,” Cobb says.
“But I’ve had a few anonymous emails
(that say), ‘Go wash some clothes,’ or
something. It’s definitely like 90 percent
positive reaction and 10 percent negative reaction.
And zero negative in person.”
Meanwhile, the Cope twins — nieces of 1990
Daytona 500 winner Derrike Cope — are in line
to make their Nationwide debut, having run in a
NASCAR Truck event for the first time last October
(Amber finished 26th; Angela wound up 30th).
“We’re pretty, thank you, we
appreciate it,” Amber says. “But at the
same time, we’re here to be drivers
full-time.”
It’s a delicate, tricky balance. You need
sponsors, and sponsorship money, to stay on the
track. In the same breath, you want to be respected
by peers and fans. Whether it’s a shirtless
Carl Edwards on a magazine cover or Danica Patrick
in a swimsuit, sex sells.
“Even though I’m over 35, my mom still
kind of keeps my moral compass, I guess,” Cobb
says. “She’s like, ‘You know, Jen,
don’t go sprawling across the hood of a car in
a bikini to advance your career.’ If you do
it, or if you don’t do it, you’re going
to divide the sentiment.”
A few years back, one of Cobb’s sponsors
also happened to make lingerie. She was flown to
New York City for a photo shoot in evening wear. At
times, it felt awkward and uncomfortable. There are
limits, Cobb says, and everyone’s boundaries
are different. Recent Drake Relays favorite Amy
Acuff has appeared in the pages of Playboy, for
example — a notion that doesn’t interest
Jennifer in the slightest, regardless of the
dollars involved.
“It’s like getting a tattoo: Once
you’ve done it, you have to live with
it,” Cobb says. “To me, (Playboy is)
something you do after your career to show
you’ve still got it. That’s not something
you do to advance your career, if you do it at
all.”
For all three, Newton is about more than
self-promotion. It’s about opening doors.
It’s about shattering glass ceilings and old
stereotypes.
“They can wear makeup and do their hair all
the time and look pretty,” Amber says,
“and they can still get behind the wheel and
go 170 miles per hour.”
You go, girl.
Source: hfemaleracingnews.com/circle_track/racings-cope-twins-look-good-go-fast/
Results
Awards: Fifty first place wins between the
twins.
2012
NASCAR Nationwide Race Stats
|
Date
|
Track
|
Start
|
Finish
|
Laps
|
Status
|
|
Jul 14
|
Loudon
|
43
|
26
|
167/200
|
Running
|
|
Nov 17
|
Homestead-Miami
|
|
|
|
|
2011
NASCAR Nationwide Race Stats
|
Date
|
Track
|
Start
|
Finish
|
Laps
|
Status
|
|
May 22
|
Iowa
|
43
|
32
|
203
|
Too slow
|
|
Nov 19
|
Homestead-Miami
|
|
|
|
|
Schedule
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