Green Takes 11th at Kansas as No. 92 Returns to Busch Series

Jeff Green

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (October 6, 2003) - The Herzog Jackson Motorsports (HJM) team returned to the NASCAR Busch Series (NBS) with a bang taking home a eleventh-place finish in Saturday's Mr. Goodcents 300 at Kansas Speedway. 2000 NBS Champion Jeff Green piloted the No. 92 Chevy in the event.

After leading the Busch Series standings for eight weeks in the first half of the 2003 season, the No. 92 team was forced to suspend operations following the second Daytona race when sponsorship money failed to materialize. Despite still being without sponsorship, team owners Bill, Randy and Stanley Herzog made the decision to compete in the event.

"Kansas Speedway is our home track," stated Randy Herzog. "Our construction business [Herzog Contracting Corp.] is based here in the Kansas City-area and our employees look forward to this event. We didn't want to disappointment them or the team. It was good to be back."

After starting the 200-lap event in the 22nd starting position, Green quickly passed several cars before settling into the 15th spot. The No. 92 Chevy kept pace with the lead cars despite suffering from a tight handling condition. When the car's condition continued to worsen, crew chief Tony "Rambo" Liberati made the call to bring the HJM Chevy into the pits at lap 64. The move cost the team several positions as it was made under green flag racing. Once the pit crew had bolted on four fresh Goodyear tires and had filled the fuel tank, the No. 92 returned to the track in the 19th spot.

The HJM Chevy continued to run in the top-20 although being listed as the first car one lap down. On lap 123 a spin on the track put the field under a caution. The team opted not to pit during the caution in an attempt to gain track position. Under NASCAR's new rule, Green, listed as the first car a lap down, was able to return to the lead lap. Once the pit stops had cycled through, Green had moved onto the lead lap and into the 11th position.

Following an accident on lap 197 involving then race leader Bobby Hamilton Jr. and Greg Biffle, most of the field slowed for the caution. However, a few drivers continued to race to the flag. What ensued following the event was a heated debate between teams regarding NASCAR?s new rule in regards to caution periods. Despite crossing the finish line in the tenth position, Green was eventually awarded eleventh after Jason Keller appealed his finishing position moving the No. 57 car from 18th in the final standings to fourth. While the team was hoping for more, driver Jeff Green was satisfied with the finish.

"This is the first time I've worked with this team. We had a solid run and continued to improve on the handling of the car during the race," stated Green. "I hope our performance today will help the team in its sponsorship search."

The Herzog Jackson Motorsports team hopes to make its next Busch Series appearance in the season finale at the Homestead-Miami track in November.