Chevy American Revolution 400 - Jeff Green Notes

Jeff Green Notes, Quotes: Chevy American Revolution 400
'It's a 'new' Richmond'

After a weekend off Jeff Green and the #43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge team return to action for Saturday night's Chevy American Revolution 400 at the .750-mile Richmond (Va.) International Raceway. Teams return to the track for competition for the first time since it was completely repaved during the track's off-season.

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 Richmond:

"We're going to a different Richmond this weekend. The Richmond that we all knew is gone. The repaving has made it a different animal. I don't know what characteristics the track will have now, and unless you tested here, it's going to take some time to figure out the track with this fresh pavement. I'm not positive, but I think we are going to go right back to a single-lane groove with everyone running the bottom, at least for the time being.

"Nobody wants to see it, but I think the racing is going to be follow-the-leader. It's back to bump-and-run to pass. It's tough. That's just part of the deal when you repave a track - it becomes a single-lane track. There is just a ton of grip at the bottom and if you're not racing there, you're just losing time. The only way to pass somebody will be to try and force them up high so you can go underneath them. It's going to be hard to pass all night unless we can work in the outside groove quickly.

"I liked the now 'old' Richmond. I liked the idea of laying down the sealer every year or so. Eventually the sealer would push up to the outside of the track and you had two or three grooves of good racing. You can't do that with the fresh pavement. It's going to take time for the track to become two grooves, and I don't believe it will be two grooves this weekend.

"The sealer made for better racing. The bottom was still the fastest way around the track, but when the sealer pushed up it led to more grip on the higher grooves. We saw good racing and it was because of the sealer. We will eventually see that again, but it's going to take time. This weekend there is just going to be a ton of grip on the inside groove, and the outside groove will be like spinning your tires on ice. Everyone will hug the bottom.

"I understand the need for the track to be repaved and you can't fault anyone. The track is located in a city where you get some harsh weather at times. During the summer it gets really hot and during the winter you can get everything from snow to ice. It's pretty rough on the track's surface. It was probably the right decision to repave it, but I know a lot of guys are going to miss the way it was.

"Still, no matter what the racing surface, guys still like racing at Richmond. It's the ideal size, shape and configuration for a stock car short-track. It's a really fast short track and it's pretty deceiving in the fact that you call it a short track. You're going pretty fast around there and you'll see even quicker speeds with this fresh pavement. I guess you can say it's the 'superspeedway' of short tracks.

"It's always exciting to get to Richmond and race under the lights. It's better for the fans and I think the drivers like it better too. It's back to our roots of Saturday night short track racing. It's a shorter weekend and we all get some time to be with our families on Sunday. It's tough to complain about that schedule. It's tough to complain at all about Richmond. Yeah, this new racing surface is going to give us some fits at first, but after a while we're still going to see the great action that Richmond has always had. It's a great facility and I know this Cheerios/Betty Crocker race team is ready to get back into action this weekend and figure out this 'new' track."