DHL 400 - Jeff Green Notes

Jeff Green Notes, Quotes: Michigan 400
‘New Tires Have Made New Racing’

For the second consecutive weekend Jeff Green and the #43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge team head into an oval over two miles in length. This weekend the team is prepared for Sunday’s Michigan 400 at the two-mile Michigan International Speedway, located just west of Detroit. Green will be making his ninth NASCAR Nextel Cup start at the track where he has a career-high ninth place finish in 2002.

Green, 41, is the only driver to have raced for the sport’s biggest names. Throughout his career, he has driven for Cup’s most legendary names, such as Junior Johnson, Felix Sabates, Richard Childress, Dale Earnhardt, and now Richard Petty. Green is in his first full season driving the legendary Petty Enterprises #43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge. The 2000 NASCAR Busch Grand National champion, he holds the record for the largest points margin after winning the championship by 616 points. He is also a two-time NASCAR Nextel Cup pole winner, winning poles at the Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway and the pole for the 2003 Daytona 500.

The thoughts of #43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge driver Jeff Green heading into Michigan:

“In my eyes we’re seeing different racing this year, and I think it’s because of the new tire. It’s why we are going to see a little bit different race at Michigan - something like we saw earlier this season at California. The tires wear out quickly, and when they do, they are losing grip. We can’t race up against the wall or right down on the white line any more. We are being forced to use more of the middle groove and stay there. We can’t move around as much and still be fast.

“That’s the great thing about going to Michigan. You can move around and race different grooves to make the car faster. Now, it’s a little bit harder to move around. You almost have to stay in one or two grooves where the car is working the best with the tires. It’s different racing after 50 or 75 laps than I’ve seen. The shorter green flag runs are fine with the car, and maybe even faster than before, but on longer runs it’s becoming a lot more crucial to have a good handling car.

“Maybe we can help that car at Michigan. The track is so wide that, maybe, we can move up a lane or two and try to find something that works for the car. It’s tough. The tires are just dictating where we can go. That’s not a bad thing. It’s making us, the drivers, work harder on the track and the guys on the crew work harder during our pit stops. You’re always changing the car to make it faster, but this season we’ve been working on the cars to be fast on longer runs.

“Being fast on long runs is what makes winners at Michigan. We get spread out and we’re not wrecking. You probably don’t see six or seven cautions in a race at Michigan and that leaves us out on the track racing for longer stretches. It doesn’t really matter if you’re fast in the first 20 laps or so, what really makes the difference is how you’re racing at the end of 50 or 60 laps. You try to prepare for long runs, but with limited practice time it’s tough. You’re hoping that you’ve got a good setup come Sunday morning.

“You can really makeup the difference in anything bad that happens with a good handling car. A bad pit stop, a slip on the track, just about anything but a wreck can be fixed with a handling car at Michigan. If you’re handling well you can drive through the turns, get the most horsepower out of the car and get to the front. It’s an awesome feeling to have a good car at Michigan.

“Sure, you can help yourself at a track like this. You can try and move around and get the car to work for you, but you can’t substitute handling at Michigan. It’s the package that we’ll work on for Sunday’s race. Race strategy and fuel mileage, all of that just falls into place when you’re running well. It’s preparing the car for 400 miles that’s important.

“Friday you’re working on your qualifying setup all afternoon. Saturday you get two short practices in the morning. You don’t have a lot of time to make huge adjustments. You want to unload on Friday and be confident that you have a good piece to race with. That’s the attitude I’m leaving my house with every weekend, and that’s the attitude that the guys on the #43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge team bring to the track each weekend. We’re working on things coming together for us.”