Derrike Cope's family team has changed names and partners since 2001, from Cup attempts and Stratus Racing to a 2025 restart and a 2026 partnership with Stanton Barrett Motorsports.
Derrike Cope's family owns this stock car team, which opened in 2001 as Quest Motor Racing. It has changed names through several partnerships, restarted in 2025 and in 2026 teamed up with Stanton Barrett Motorsports. The team is best known for its part-time and partnership arrangements rather than sustained Cup success.
Cope Family Racing is an American stock car team that competes in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series. It is owned by Derrike Cope and his family, and it has carried a long list of earlier names, from Quest Motor Racing and Stratus Racing Group to Cope/Keller Racing and CFK Motorsports.
The team's history is one of partnerships. Cope has repeatedly brought in co-owners, merged with other operations and changed the team's name each time. It closed before the 2017 season, reopened in 2025 under the Cope Family Racing name, and in 2026 joined forces with Stanton Barrett Motorsports.
Where did the team begin?
The team opened in 2001 as Quest Motor Racing. Cope drove for it and co-owned it with Warren Johnson, a drag racer. In 2003 the No. 37 Chevrolet, sponsored by Friendly's Ice Cream, attempted most of the 36 races and made eighteen of them, and Cope failed to qualify for the season finale at Homestead.
For 2004 Cope expected new backing from Paramount Hospitality Management, but the sponsor withdrew before Speedweeks, leaving the team underfunded again. Cope then merged with Florida businessman Don Arnold's Arnold Motorsports. The combined team ran the No. 50 Dodge, using Cope's owner points and equipment to improve its chances of making races.
A family team that has rarely stayed under one name, moving from Cup attempts to a Stratus partnership and back to racing with a new name in 2026.
How did the 2004 merger play out?
Cope finished 30th in the Daytona 500 after a crash. A few weeks later at Darlington he qualified fifth and ran near the front for most of the race, but a pit road problem dropped the car to 25th. After the Coca-Cola 600 the partnership ended, with Cope taking his equipment away and leaving Arnold with the points.
The team returned to the Cup series in 2008 as Cope/Keller Racing and failed to qualify in both of its attempts. It also ran a partial Nationwide schedule, fielding cars for several drivers, and came back part-time in 2009 with sponsorship from Blu Frog Energy and Flip'n Bags.
What was Stratus Racing Group?
On 14 December 2009 Keller and Cope teamed with Dale Clemons, creating Stratus Racing Group. The new company aimed to compete across the ARCA, Nationwide, Truck and Cup series. In 2010 it fielded two ARCA teams, Nationwide and Truck entries, and a part-time Cup effort that grew the following year.
The Truck Series programme involved Cope's nieces, Angela and Amber Cope, who made their first starts at Martinsville in 2010. Angela finished 30th and Amber 26th. Cope's own 2011 season was hard going. He withdrew from the Darlington race after an engine failed a dyno test, and at the Sprint Showdown a collision with Landon Cassill, who had spun in front of him, ended his run.
What did the 2012 and 2013 seasons bring?
In 2012 Cope renamed the team CFK Motorsports and made his first race of that year in the 32nd event of the season. He started 36th and finished 28th. The team also tried to enter a handful of Cup races, but it struggled to qualify at Bristol, where it was knocked out as the slowest car in practice and qualifying.
For 2013 the team ran part-time under the Creation-Cope Racing name, with MAXallence Energy as sponsor. It made only one start with Cope that year, and at Mid-Ohio a suspension failure ended a race after 35 laps.
What was the No. 70 Camaro programme like?
The team raced full-time in the 2014 Nationwide Series with the No. 70 Chevrolet Camaro. Cope bought the assets of the former ML Motorsports for that season. The team tested at Daytona in January and went on to qualify for the Drive for COPD 300 at Daytona, finishing 37th after some difficulties.
Sponsors came and went. Charlie's Soap backed the car early in the season, Youtheory took over from Auto Club Speedway until the final Texas race, and Charlie's Soap returned for the final Charlotte race. Cope's best result came with 13th at the Firecracker 300 at Daytona, and he finished the year 23rd in the points standings.
The 2015 season was harder. The team missed the first race and failed to qualify at Talladega. It briefly gained a place in the field at the July 4 race at Daytona after a rival car was found illegal and removed, but the team finished 37th in owner points for the year.
How did the 2016 season go?
For 2016 Cope agreed a partnership with JP Motorsports and planned another full schedule. Ice-Aid came on as primary sponsor for Daytona and an associate sponsor for the rest of the year. The team failed to qualify at Daytona, but it finished 27th at Atlanta with Adrenalin Powersports and Ice-Aid on board.
At Las Vegas the team crashed its primary car in practice. The backup was readied, but it cleared technical inspection only after qualifying had ended, so the team did not make the race. Timmy Hill drove the team's two road course races at Mid-Ohio and Road America, and Dexter Stacey took the wheel for the last three races of the season.
Why did the team step away in 2017?
The team announced through social media that it would not return for the 2017 NASCAR season. Cope drove part-time for Premium Motorsports in the Cup series, and later moved into management at StarCom Racing, which had just been formed, with some driving duties.
The team's return came in 2025. Cope had alluded to a comeback during a podcast appearance, likely in the Xfinity Series. In January 2025 Cope Family Racing was announced, with Leland Honeyman and Thomas Annunziata named as drivers of the No. 70 Chevrolet. The restart came with ties to Richard Childress Racing and ECR Engines.
What is the 2026 partnership with Stanton Barrett Motorsports?
In 2026 the team partnered with Stanton Barrett Motorsports, which is back in the series after 2008 and in NASCAR after 2015. The No. 70 car from 2025 was renumbered to No. 30, a number SBM had run in 2007 and 2008, and the two teams planned a single full-time entry.
On 5 January 2026 Argentinian driver Baltazar Leguizamon became the first named driver. He was pencilled in for COTA, a spring race at Martinsville and Watkins Glen, and he would share the car with drivers still to be confirmed. The same day the merged team was named Barrett-Cope Racing.
What did the team do outside the Cup and Nationwide series?
The Truck Series history began in 2001, when a No. 37 Ford ran for Damon Lusk at Texas. Matt Mullins drove the truck at Daytona in 2002, and the Stratus operation fielded trucks numbered 73 and 74 in 2008 and 2009.
Several drivers, including Jennifer Jo Cobb, Nick Tucker and Larry Gunselman, shared those trucks, and Cope himself drove the No. 74 at Daytona in 2010.
In ARCA the team made a 2008 debut at Kentucky with Amber Cope, who finished 38th after a crash. Nur Ali drove for the team in 2009, finishing 21st at Rockingham and 35th at Michigan, and Jennifer Jo Cobb started 41st and finished 19th at Chicagoland in 2008. In 2012 Garrett Smithley and Jack Clarke also drove for the team.
What were the team's key milestones?
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 2001 | Opens as Quest Motor Racing; Cope drives |
| 2004 | Merger with Arnold Motorsports; Daytona 500 finish of 30th |
| 2009 | Stratus Racing Group formed with Dale Clemons on 14 December |
| 2012 | Team renamed CFK Motorsports; first race of the season, 28th |
| 2014 | Full-time No. 70 Camaro; 13th at the Firecracker 300; 23rd in points |
| 2017 | Team does not return to the NASCAR season |
| 2025 | Cope Family Racing announced with Honeyman and Annunziata |
| 2026 | Partnership with Stanton Barrett Motorsports; Barrett-Cope Racing name |
