TRIBUTE : BLAKE COPSON

so needs this . Do we have it ? Can we help them ?’ He reminds me a lot of [ Mark ] ‘ Woody ’ [ Woodruff ]. Everybody says ‘ Woodymart ’ because he ’ s always helping fellow racers with parts and has been doing it for a long time . Blake reminded me of him , just his sportsmanship and his smile . I can ’ t get his smile out of my head .”

Copson always made time for fans , too , taking extra care to roll out the red carpet for young fans . It wasn ’ t long ago that he was in their position , and he never forgot that .

“ He would grab an 8-year-old and put them in the car ,” Joe says . “ As a youngster , I took him to the track and he would go up and I could see the look in his eyes , that stargazed look . And now all of a sudden , 15-20 years later , Blake had little boys and girls coming up to him , and I would give him a little wink . He just loved the people . That ’ s really what this is about .

“ Of course , Blake was a very fierce competitor ,” Joe adds . “ You get him to the starting line and he ’ s just going to want to win at all costs . But underneath it all , it was always about the people with Blake , the friendships that were made .”

The hundreds of social media posts about Blake have helped the Copson family to fully realize the impact Blake had on the people he encountered and the friends he made .

“ When it ’ s all said and done , it ’ s about your family , the people , and the lives that you ’ ve impacted along your journey ,” Joe says . “ That ’ s what we would talk about on the road , and that ’ s what makes the drag racing family so unique . We ’ ve been getting messages from all over the world – Australia , the Middle East , Brazil , Argentina – people that we didn ’ t even think followed us , but they did . People loved Blake . They just loved him for who he was .”

Even as successful as they were in 2020 , the Copsons and Ledford had even bigger things planned for 2021 . The plan was to move over to the Pro 275 class . Ledford told Copson his goal was to go 3.65 at 215 MPH on 275s , and they were going to have everything they needed to accomplish that goal .

“ We were getting the latest and greatest ,” Ledford says . “ The motor that was in Blake ’ s car was

three-year-old technology and we still ran 94-millimeter turbos . We were getting the latest and greatest outlaw Hemi from Proline with 98s . We were probably going to make 5,200 to close to 5,500 horsepower . We were going to pick up a lot of power over our old combination . We were just excited to get out and try to continue the success we had in the previous season .”

On top of running the family car in Pro 275 , Copson was set to run another handful of races as a hired gun in Manny Buginga ’ s Jamie Millertuned X275 Mustang . He qualified No . 1 in the car at Lights Out 12 just a week before his passing . The opportunity to drive for Buginga was proof that others recognized Copson ’ s abilities , and there ’ s no telling what kind of opportunities would ’ ve followed .

“ He very much wanted to be like Stevie ‘ Fast ’ [ Jackson ],” Joe says . “ That ’ s a driver that he really admired . Stevie and Jose Gonzalez , those are two drivers that Blake really looked up to and followed . But Blake wanted to dominate small-tire racing . That ’ s what he wanted to do , and then eventually parlay that into perhaps a Pro Mod ride .”

To those who knew him best , there ’ s no doubt

Copson would ’ ve excelled in Pro Mod or other categories as he continued to climb up the ranks . He had what the famed author Tom Wolfe would call “ the right stuff .”

“ He was consistent . He always did the same thing in the car – always ,” Ledford says . “ Going down track , if it started to wheelie or it was out of shape , instead of being aggressive on the wheel , he would just finesse it back in the groove . Some drivers are good at one thing or the other , but he had the whole package down , from cutting lights to being in sticky situations and getting out of them .”

As for Joe ’ s future in drag racing , he ’ s unsure how he ’ ll continue . He ’ d jump back into it “ in a heartbeat ” if his daughters , Taylor and Ava , show an interest in getting into the sport their late brother loved , but he ’ s focused on simply getting through this difficult time , along with his wife , Lianna , and their daughters .

“ I can tell you that the ‘ Root Beer Rocket ’ is officially retired from drag racing ,” Joe says . “ We ’ ll bring it out probably on his birthday , and we ’ re going to display it at Yellowbullet for the fans to come over and see it . But I know that Blake would want me to be out there . We ’ ll see if the right opportunity arises , but for right now , I don ’ t see any drag racing in my near future , let ’ s put it that way .”

Weeks after Copson ’ s passing , the tributes continue to roll in on social media . Offline , mourners pay tribute to Copson with “ RIP BCOP ” and “ BCOP Forever ” decals and messages written in dial-in paint on their race cars . A massive memorial banner hung in the staging lanes at South Georgia Motorsports Park during Donald Long ’ s Sweet 16 race in late March . The X275 class at Tyler Crossnoe ’ s Outlaw Street Car Reunion in April will be renamed BCOP275 . Each gesture ensures that Blake ’ s memory will live on .

“ I couldn ’ t be more proud as a dad ,” Joe says . “ And it ’ s hard , because again , we feel like we ’ ve been shorted , but God did give us 27 wonderful years with our boy . We ’ re forever grateful on that . We ’ re going to hold on and cherish those memories that we made . His spirit is going to live on with us , and hopefully it ’ ll live on in the people ’ s lives that he impacted . So that ’ s really what I would be hopeful for , is that they ’ ll remember him , how Blake treated them , and how much love he gave to everybody .” DI

26 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated . com Issue 166