Angela Ruch

(Redirected from Angela Cope)

Angela Christine Ruch (/rək/RUHK, née Cope, born August 18, 1983) is an American professional stock car racing driver. She is the niece of Derrike Cope and the sister of Amber Cope. She last competed in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, driving the No. 00 Chevrolet Silverado/Toyota Tundra for Reaume Brothers Racing.

Angela Ruch
Ruch in 2011
BornAngela Christine Cope
(1983-08-18) August 18, 1983 (age 41)
Puyallup, Washington, U.S.
Height5 ft 3 in (1.60 m)
Weight100 lb (45 kg)
Achievements1995 Tri-Cities Gold Cup Yamaha Class champion
1998 PSGKA Gold Cup Junior Piston Port winner
2002 Lucas Oil Can-Am 150 (Sun Valley Speedway) winner
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
14 races run over 4 years
2018 position68th
Best finish55th (2011)
First race2011 Iowa John Deere Dealers 250 (Iowa)
Last race2018 Ford EcoBoost 300 (Homestead)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
18 races run over 3 years
2020 position42nd
Best finish31st (2019)
First race2010 Kroger 200 (Martinsville)
Last race2020 Vankor 350 (Texas)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 1 0
Statistics current as of November 11, 2020.

Racing career

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Angela and Amber Cope became the third generation of Copes to enter into the world of racing. They started racing go-karts in the Greater Puget Sound area after their parents gave them a go-kart for Christmas at age 9. In their seven years of driving go-karts in the Pacific Northwest, Angela and her sister earned 50 wins and 20 pole positions combined. Angela also set new track records at five of six tracks in the same region.[citation needed]

At age 15, both Angela and Amber progressed to racing late models. In 2000, they were featured on The Early Show with host Bryant Gumbel during their career in late models.[citation needed]

As Angela and Amber became more experienced behind the wheel, they knew that in order to advance their careers and have the chance at driving in NASCAR, they would have to leave Washington, so they moved across the country to the Charlotte metropolitan area, where most of the race teams are located. Putting their focus into learning the in and outs of professional racing, the twins traveled with their uncle Derrike to every Cup race that he was competing in.[1]

In 2006, the twins split seat time in the ARCA Re/Max Series at Berlin, Gateway, Chicagoland, Milwaukee and Toledo. Angela's starts were at Berlin in the No. 1 for Andy Belmont and Milwaukee in the No. 72 for Mario Gosselin. After not making any ARCA starts in 2007, Angela returned for one race in the series in 2008 at Kentucky Speedway. Driving the No. 68 Dodge for Rick Markle, she qualified eighth and finished 29th. Amber was also in this race, qualifying 15th and finishing 38th in the No. 70 car for her uncle's team.

In 2011, Angela competed in four Nationwide Series races. In 2012, she was announced to share the No. 24 SR2 Motorsports Toyota in the series with her twin sister and Benny Gordon on a part-time schedule.[2]

Five years later, she made her return to NASCAR's Xfinity Series at Kentucky Speedway, now going by Angela Ruch after getting married during her time without a ride. She drove the No. 78 B. J. McLeod Motorsports Chevrolet.[3]

In 2019, Ruch returned to the Gander Outdoors Truck Series with NEMCO Motorsports. She finished a NASCAR career-best 8th at Daytona, her first lead lap finish and the second-highest ever for a female in the Truck Series.[4] In March, Ruch and Niece Motorsports announced she would be tapped to race 12 events in the Gander Outdoors Truck Series starting at Texas Motor Speedway.[5]

It was announced on January 29, 2020 that Ruch would run a full-time Truck schedule in 2020, driving the No. 00 Chevrolet/Toyota for Reaume Brothers Racing with an alliance with Niece Motorsports, who she drove for in 2019.[6] After running the first five races, Ruch missed the Pocono Raceway event due to sponsorship issues and was replaced by team owner Josh Reaume in the No. 00.[7]

Motorsports career results

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NASCAR

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(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Xfinity Series

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NASCAR Xfinity 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 32 33 34 NXSC Pts Ref
2011 TriStar Motorsports 44 Chevy DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL TEX TAL NSH RCH DAR DOV IOW
28
CLT CHI MCH ROA DAY KEN NHA
25
NSH IRP IOW GLN CGV BRI ATL RCH CHI
DNQ
DOV 55th 56 [8]
23 KAN
32
70 CLT
35
TEX PHO HOM
2012 SR² Motorsports 00 Chevy DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL TEX RCH TAL DAR IOW CLT
36
DOV 76th 25 [9]
24 MCH
28
ROA KEN DAY NHA CHI IND IOW GLN CGV BRI ATL RCH CHI KEN DOV
00 Toyota CLT
43
KAN TEX PHO HOM
2017 B. J. McLeod Motorsports 78 Chevy DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL TEX BRI RCH TAL CLT DOV POC MCH IOW DAY KEN
30
NHA IND IOW GLN MOH BRI ROA DAR RCH CHI KEN
32
DOV CLT
35
KAN TEX
38
PHO HOM 66th 14 [10]
2018 8 DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL TEX BRI RCH TAL DOV CLT POC MCH IOW CHI DAY KEN NHA
30
IOW GLN MOH BRI ROA DAR IND LVS RCH CLT DOV 68th 16 [11]
38 KAN
29
TEX PHO
RSS Racing 39 Chevy HOM
37

Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series

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NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors 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 NGTC Pts Ref
2010 Daisy Ramirez Motorsports 01 Dodge DAY ATL MAR NSH KAN DOV CLT TEX MCH IOW GTY IRP POC NSH DAR BRI CHI KEN NHA LVS MAR
30
TAL TEX PHO HOM 111th 73 [12]
2019 NEMCO Motorsports 8 Chevy DAY
8
ATL LVS
16
MAR 31st 139 [13]
Niece Motorsports 44 Chevy TEX
30
DOV KAN
16
CLT
23
TEX
29
IOW GTW CHI KEN POC ELD MCH BRI
30
MSP LVS
22
TAL
28
MAR PHO HOM
29
2020 Reaume Brothers Racing 00 Chevy DAY
28
42nd 84 [14]
Toyota LVS
24
CLT
23
ATL
28
HOM
24
POC KEN
25
TEX
23
KAN KAN MCH DAY DOV GTW DAR RCH BRI LVS TAL KAN TEX MAR PHO

ARCA Re/Max Series

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(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Re/Max 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 ARMC Pts Ref
2006 Andy Belmont Racing 1 Ford DAY NSH SLM WIN KEN TOL POC MCH KAN KEN BLN
22
POC GTW NSH MCH ISF 110th 190 [15]
DGM Racing 72 Chevy MIL
32
TOL DSF CHI SLM TAL IOW
2008 Rick Markle Racing 68 Dodge DAY SLM IOW KAN CAR KEN TOL POC MCH CAY KEN
29
BLN POC NSH ISF DSF CHI SLM NJE TAL TOL 136th 85 [16]

* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points

References

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  1. ^ "Derrike Cope's Racing Nieces". Motorsport.com. August 23, 1999. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
  2. ^ Adamczyk, Jay (February 12, 2012). "Nationwide Series". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN. Archived from the original on February 15, 2012. Retrieved 2012-02-12.
  3. ^ Allaway, Phil (July 3, 2017). "Angela Ruch Returns to XFINITY Series With BJ McLeod Motorsports at Kentucky". Frontstretch. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
  4. ^ "Austin Hill Wins NextEra Energy 250 Demolition Derby At Daytona". Frontstretch. 2019-02-16. Retrieved 2019-02-16.
  5. ^ "NASCAR's Angela Ruch Signs with Niece Motorsports". 23 March 2019.
  6. ^ "Angela Ruch to compete full-time in Gander Trucks series". NASCAR.com. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  7. ^ Srigley, Joseph (June 23, 2020). "Angela Ruch Not on Entry List for Saturday's Pocono Organics 150, Reaume & Iwuji Driving for Reaume Brothers Racing". TobyChristie.com. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  8. ^ "Angela Ruch – 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  9. ^ "Angela Ruch – 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  10. ^ "Angela Ruch – 2017 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  11. ^ "Angela Ruch – 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  12. ^ "Angela Ruch – 2010 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  13. ^ "Angela Ruch – 2019 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  14. ^ "Angela Ruch – 2020 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  15. ^ "Angela Ruch – 2006 ARCA Re/Max Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  16. ^ "Angela Ruch – 2008 ARCA Re/Max Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
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