Jimmy Cope

Pinellas Park resident Jimmy Cope might be a familiar name throughout the state of Florida, but many outside the state may have never heard of him. The second-generation driver's career in the racing business spans over thirty-five years, beginning to race and work on go-karts as a teenager in the early 1970's. His career mostly began as a mechanic, as this article from 1974 profiling him shows that he worked on Figure 8 cars for drivers at the Golden Gate Speedway and Sunshine Speedway at the young age of 16. He also worked on his younger brother Mike's go-karts at the time as well.

Not much longer after that, Cope took to the drivers seat at Sunshine Speedway racing Thundercars and Figure 8's for the remainder of the decade and almost instantly turned some heads as a driver to watch. Over the next few years Cope progressed up the local racing ladder into Late Models and then onto the All Pro Series circuit. He won Sunshine Speedway's Florida 200 in 1982 and then went on to win his first All Pro race in 1983 at his home track, besting some of the toughest competitors in the nation including Mike Harmon, Robert Hamke, Freddie Fryar, Gary Balough and Donnie Allison. The article for this race can be found here.

In 1984, Cope moved full time to the All Pro Series circuit. Although he would not win, he did capture three top five finishes. In 1985, Cope returned to racing late models at Sunshine Speedway as well as continuing to race the All Pro schedule. He would only secure one top five finish in the series in 1985. In 1986, Cope began racing in the NASCAR All-American Challenge Series with a best finish of third behind NASCAR drivers Rusty Wallace and Neil Bonnett in the Goody's 125 at DeSoto Speedway in Bradenton, Florida.

Throughout the remainder of the 1980's, Jimmy Cope continued to make some starts in the NASCAR All-American Challenge Series while dominating at Sunshine Speedway. Cope won at least eight straight late model features at the track during the 1987 season. In 1988, he claimed his second straight late model championship at the speedway. In 1989, he joined the United Stock Car Alliance, a series that competed throughout the state of Florida, along with his younger brother Mike.

Jimmy would continue to race at Sunshine Speedway and the United Stock Car Alliance into the early 1990's, while his younger brother would join the now NASCAR All Pro Series and would garner more success than Jimmy did. Mike Cope was the runner up in 1993 and champion in 1994 and 1996. Mike went on to race in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and NASCAR Busch Series later in the decade and now is promoter at Bronson Motor Speedway and helps his son Travis further his racing career.

Throughout the 1990's, Jimmy Cope would branch out from the state of Florida as well. His first, and only, attempt as a driver in the higher levels of NASCAR came in 1993 at Hickory Motor Speedway. Driving for LaWarre Racing, cope started 26th and finished 18th, completing 294 of the 300 laps. In 1995, the formation of the Hooters Cup Late Model Series allowed Cope another chance to run full time in a touring series. Late in the season and for the next two years, he would pick up sponsorship from the Miller Brewing Company. It would all pay off in October of 1996 when he claim his first series victory at Mobile International Speedway. He would follow up that victory with another one in 1997 at the same track, and then two more consecutive wins coming at Orange County Speedway and USA International Speedway.

Following the 1997 season, the Hooters Cup Late Model Series disbanded, leaving Cope without a sponsor or a full time ride for the 1998. He would make selected starts with the NASCAR All Pro Series, but would never race on a full time touring level again. During the next few years, he would focus on racing on a more local level once again, winning several races with the Florida Pro Series.

As the new millennium approached, Cope continued to drive and win races but began focusing on building winning race cars and engines. Cope always worked on what he ran all the way back to the early 1970's so it wasn't a surprise to many that his cars would win races throughout the remaining years of the Florida Pro Series and then the FASCAR Florida Sunbelt Series. Meanwhile, the success must have been bittersweet as his longtime home track Sunshine Speedway closed in 2004.

While Jimmy Cope has slowed down with his own racing career, there is no doubt that he still is someone to look up to in the Florida racing world; whether it's the teams he currently still builds cars for, or the people he's helped in the past including younger brother Mike and even NASCAR crew chief Jason Overstreet.

Additional Sources:

http://www.shorttrackhistory.org

http://thirdturn.armchairgm.com

http://www.racing-reference.info