Angela Cope Enters New England 200

For the first time in their racing careers, one of the Cope Twins is going to attempt to race "solo" in one of NASCAR's top three series.  Without her sister Amber, Angela Cope plans to compete in the Nationwide Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday, July 16. Amber will be in attendance, however, on the headset helping guide Angela instead of behind the wheel herself.

By competing in a Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville in October, the duet rewrote NASCAR'shistory books last year by becoming the first twins to ever race against each other in one of NASCAR's top three divisions. They made history again in May at Iowa Speedway by competing against each other in a Nationwide Series race.

This time, however, it is Angela who will try and tackle the Magic Mile from the cockpit while Amber will be high atop the grandstand, assisting as one of Angela's spotters. Their Uncle Derrike, the 1990 Daytona 500 Champion, plans to be in the race as well, marking the first time he has ever competed against one of his nieces.

"We thought it was best that as we continue to grow in the sport of NASCAR that we take one car to the track and focus all our efforts on that car and team," said Angela, 27. "This let's our team put all its energy into the one car and gives us the best chance to show we can be competitive. It also allows Amber to see another aspect of the sport.

"Our hope is that we can continue to find sponsorship and race in selected Nationwide Series races. While I get to be behind the wheel at Loudon with our great sponsors in Horizon Entertainment, Xinergy and Odyssey Batteries, we hope to announce future races with Amber and I sharing the driver seat," added the Puyallup, Washington native.

Angela will pilot the No. 44 Chevrolet of Tri-Star Motorsports, the same team she finished 28th for in the Iowa event.  The Loudon race will mark her second start in NASCAR's second-most popular series.

Co-Primary sponsors on the Angela's car at the Loudon, NH, facility are Horizon Entertainment and Xinergy while Odyssey® Batteries by EnerSys® will return for its third racein support of the Cope Twins as an associate sponsor.

Storytelling is the key component of all projects created by Horizon Entertainment, a film and television production, content development and motion graphics design studio based out of their offices in Atlanta, GA and New Orleans, LA. Horizon has an unparalleled advantage over competition with the unique ability to solicit and secure network homes while simultaneously developing brand identity and other ancillary opportunities. Horizon and it's principals have worked with a wide range of clients including: ABC, ABC Sports, NBC Sports, CBS Sports, FOX Sports, MTV, CMT, WWE, VH1, ESPN, NFL, TBS, BHE, NASCAR, Indy Racing League, TNT and more. For further information, log onto www.horizonent.tv.

Xinergy is headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee. Xinergy Ltd., through its wholly owned subsidiary, Xinergy Corp. and its subsidiaries, is engaged in coal mining in eastern Kentucky and West Virginia.  Currently, Xinergy sells high quality coal to electric utilities and industrial companies throughout the southeastern United States.  For more information, please visit www.xinergycorp.com.

EnerSys®, the world leader in stored energy solutions for industrial applications, manufactures, distributes and services reserve power, motive power and starting, lighting and ignition (SLI) batteries, chargers, power equipment, and battery accessories to customers worldwide.  SLI batteries are used for trucks and buses, passenger cars, boats, personal watercraft, ATVs, motorcycles and garden tractors.  The company also provides aftermarket and customer support services to its customers from more than 100 countries through its sales and manufacturing locations around the world.  For more information about EnerSys and its ODYSSEY® batteries, visit www.enersys.com or www.ODYSSEYbattery.com.

Angela's resume includes countless go-cart victories and multiple championships. Since moving east she has competed in super late models, ARCA, as well as the race in NASCAR's Truck Series and Nationwide Series.

Opening practice for the New Hampshire race is set for Friday, July 15, with qualifying on Saturday, July 16, at 10:35 a.m. (EST). The race gets the green flag later that day at 3:30 p.m.