Auto Club 500 - Jeff Green Notes

Jeff Green
America Online Racing
Event Preview Fact Sheet

Event/Date: Auto Club 500, April 27, 2003
Venue: California Speedway

NASCAR Winston Cup Points Position: 31st

Notes:

Jeff Green, driver of the #30 America Online Chevrolet, will start in his 104th Winston Cup race this weekend as the Winston Cup teams compete in the Auto Club 500 at California Speedway in Fontana on Sunday, April 27. Live broadcast is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. EDT on FOX.

Testing last week on the 1.33-mile tri-oval of Nashville Superspeedway last week, the AOL team put chassis number 86 on the track along with new car #106. This weekend, however, Green will drive chassis number 78 with 86 as the backup. One of the older car in the AOL stables, #78 competed in the second Michigan event last year and twice the preceding year at Michigan and Chicagoland speedways. Chassis #83 raced in last year's event at California with an 11th-place effort.

In his second full season in Winston Cup competition, Green still seeks his first trip to victory lane and California Speedway could be the venue as Green has an average finish of 13 in the three Winston Cup events he's raced on the 2-mile tri-oval. He scored his first Winston Cup top-10 finish during the inaugural event at California Speedway in 1997. It was also the site of the AOL team's Winston Cup debut two years ago with Green finishing 21st.

Remaining at 31st in the Winston Cup points standings, Green has accumulated 807 points during the first nine races of the season which is slightly less than the 824 he earned at this point last year. While he's 136 points from the 20th spot, Green is closer to the top 10 (248 points behind) than he was heading into California last year.

A top finish this weekend could push Green over the $5 million mark in Winston Cup career earnings, needing nearly $100,000 to reach the milestone.

2002 Race Recap:

The breaks went his way as Jeff Green posted his then best marking of the season, taking the #30 America Online Chevrolet to an 11th-place finish during the NAPA Auto Parts 500 at California Speedway. Starting 16th, Green struggled early in the race when loose handling conditions had the AOL Chevy nearly sideways coming off the corners. An early caution enabled the crew to make adjustments during a pit stop and, after falling to 24th, Green returned to competition in the 14th spot. Faltering slightly around the 40th lap, he rebounded to move into 19th a quarter of the way through the 250-lap event. As green-flag pit stops began on lap 64, Green climbed the leader board to 11th before coming in for four tires and more adjustments, returning to the race in the 15th place. With the leaders pulling away from the pack with the lack of cautions, Green relied on the AOL crew to perform quick service in the next round of pit stops nearly 60 laps later, keeping AOL Chevy on the lead lap. Their efforts appeared fruitless, though, 15 laps later when the leader, Kurt Busch, passed Green to put him one lap down. Racing on the heels of Busch, who had built a 15-second lead over the field, Green benefited from a caution on lap 140 when he was able to beat the leader to the start/finish line to get back on the lead lap. As the final car on the lead lap, Green stood in the 12th position and was 10th when the green flag dropped at lap 146. Although he struggled with the handling of the car throughout the remainder of the race, Green kept himself on the lead lap and finished with his best effort of the season.

Quotes:

"We caught a break last year when that caution flag came out and we got our lap back," said Green. "I had to hustle around the 97 car, we barely beat him to the finish line and that really saved us. The car wasn't exactly where it needed to be at that point but we kept working on it. Although we never really found the right combination, we held on to get a good finish which is what teamwork is all about."

"The low banking on the corners allows for sweeping passes coming off the turns," added Green. "You need the car to stick and handling plays such a factor. We had luck on our side last year when we got our lap back but hopefully we'll be strong enough to where we can run in the front all day. The AOL team has struggled in recent weeks and I know we are capable of so much more. I hope this weekend is a turning point for us."

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