Ronald Cooper (born May 26, 1958) is a former

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and h ...

driver. In seventy-two career

Busch Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to ...

starts, Cooper recorded one win and one career top-10 points showing.

1988

Cooper made his debut with his own #56 Buick, and started 1988 with the intent to run all the races. Cooper would only qualify for 25 of the 30 races, but it was a solid season nonetheless. After finishing 18th in his series debut at Rockingham, Cooper earned his first top-10 at

South Boston South Boston is a densely populated neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay. South Boston, colloquially known as Southie, has undergone several demographic transformati ...

, finishing 6th. Cooper would earn three other top-10 finishes on the year, highlighted by his first career top-5 with a fifth at

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

. His qualifying was solid, too, with an outside pole at Lanier being the best of six top-ten starts. Despite missing five races, and not finishing five more, Cooper finished an impressive 15th-place points finish in the final tally.

1989

Cooper's best career year came in 1989, when he recorded eighth place in the series. The highlight of the season had to be his first (and only) career victory, as he paced the field at Lanier, his home track. However, Cooper was solid elsewhere, recording four top-fives and ten top-tens. Eight top-ten qualifying efforts also helped the driver to the final points effort, but five DNFs hindered Cooper's effort to move up any higher.

1990

Cooper's team began to run out of money, as it was a small family-owned team. Cooper would only make eight starts as a result in 1990. It did not help the team's situation that they struggled early, crashing out of three out of the first four races of the year. The team was solid in the other four, finishing no worse than 16th in the final four starts, highlighted by a fifth place at

. The financial situation did not improve and Cooper's team folded following Dover.

1993

Cooper got his team to restart for three races in 1993, driving the #56 Johnny Cotton Chevy late in the season. The races were solid for Cooper, as he finished 16th, 14th and then 12th at

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

1994

Cooper's #56 team was back for only seven more starts in 1994. Cooper, whose career had been made of saving his equipment, only managed to finish two races on the year. However, they were both solid as he recorded a pair of sevenths at Rockingham and

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

. Cooper's team, though, had to fold again, and Cooper has not raced in NASCAR since.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

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

Busch Series

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Ronald 1958 births Living people People from Barrow County, Georgia Sportspeople from the Atlanta metropolitan area Racing drivers from Georgia (U.S. state) NASCAR drivers ARCA Menards Series drivers