JEFF GREEN
NO. 66 HAAS CNC RACING CHEVROLET
NEW HAMPSHIRE PREVIEW

LAST RACE AT NEW HAMPSHIRE: Jeff Green worked his way from a 35th-place starting spot in the July 16 race all the way up to 12th-place before an accident on lap 209 damaged the handling on the No. 66 Haas CNC Racing entry. Green finished the event in 26th-place, one lap down to the leaders.

Q&A WITH DRIVER JEFF GREEN:
You worked your way into the top-15 in the last race at New Hampshire, but had your day ruined by an accident. How frustrating is that? “I’m just about to get used to it. It seems to happen every time we’re having a good run. Both races at Richmond, the race here, the first race at Daytona. I don’t get excited when we run well, because I’m just waiting for the wreck to happen.

“It’s just the way this season has gone for us. We either don’t run well, or if we do, something happens to hurt our finish. What’s most frustrating about all of that is that our guys are working as hard as any team in the garage, but they don’t seem to get rewarded with good finishes.

“We have some good tracks coming up for us at Charlotte, Atlanta and Talladega, so we’re going to do our best to pull out some stronger runs in these last 10 races and get ourselves back up in the points before the end of the season.”

What do you think of New Hampshire International Speedway, now that it’s been a few years since they’ve done some paving work to the facility? “Well, it’s not nearly as bad as it used to be. Still, when they run the other series with different tires on the same weekends we’re there, the first 10 (Nextel) Cup cars that go out during qualifying are going to be sliding all over the place. It’s tough to get grip in the tires when the other rubber is down. Other than that, I like racing here.”

Since you raced a lot on shorter tracks earlier in your career, do you enjoy the tracks like New Hampshire? “Yeah, I do like the shorter tracks. It seems like when we go slower, we race harder, if you can believe that.”

Q&A WITH CREW CHIEF “BOOTIE” BARKER:
You ran pretty well here in July. Are you bringing the same setup back this time? “In this case, yes, we are bringing a very similar setup, but we’ve made some slight changes to the front end. You know, it’s amazing how much the setups change from race to race at the same track at a lot of places. You can put the exact same setup under a car that you had at the last race, and the driver will tell you the car feels nothing like it did before. “

What does it take to be successful at New Hampshire International Speedway? “Well, like at most tracks, the lower you can keep the nose of your car, the better off you’ll be. Just past the center (of the turns) you have a tendency to shove the front end of the car, so you have to keep it turning in the center to be successful.

NEW ENGLAND CONNECTION:
Mike Morneau, who is called “Shrek” by the Haas CNC Racing crew, hails from Oxford, Maine. Morneau is the front tire carrier for the No. 66 Haas CNC Chevrolet.

Jack Dyer, who drives Jeff Green’s motor coach, is from Bangor, Maine, and he and his wife, Bonnie, still own a cottage on Swanville Lake in Swanville, Maine.

“We just spent a few days at the cottage this week,” Dyer said. “We always go up before the second New Hampshire race, because the race in Richmond is on Saturday night and we can head up first thing Sunday morning.

“We usually don’t have to drive out to Infineon Raceway in June, so we’ll head up to the cabin during that week, too. Then we stay up in Swanville from around Thanksgiving until just after New Year’s before we head back down to our house in Huntersville (N.C.) and get ready for the next race season.

“It’s nice, because we get the best of both worlds. We get to go home and enjoy the holidays in Maine, but then we can get out of the cold in North Carolina.”

Dyer got his nickname, “Mad” Jack Dyer, from his days as a race car driver. He drove everything from Street Stocks to Pro Stocks from 1980-2000 at tracks around Maine, including Speedway 95 in Bangor, Unity Raceway, and Wiscasset Raceway.

Prior to becoming a motor coach driver, Dyer made his living as a mechanic in Bangor. After working as a diesel mechanic with the Greyhound Bus Line for 16 years, Dyer went to work for the Bangor Daily News, where he maintained and repaired the newspaper’s trucks.

COACH DRIVER/CHEF EXTRAORDINAIRE: Jeff Green’s motor home driver, Jack Dyer, was a winner in the First Annual Motor Coach Drivers Cook-off, held last Thursday at Richmond International Raceway.

Dyer and his wife, Bonnie, won First Place and Best Entrée for their dish, called “Nana’s Chop Suey.”

Hosted by Motor Racing Outreach (MRO), the event was held to spotlight the men and women who work behind the scenes, moving the NASCAR racing community around the country.

Coach drivers prepared their favorite dish in one of four categories: appetizer, side dish, entrée or dessert. Judging was done by a ‘celebrity panel’ which included White House Chef Jason Bridwell and RIR President Doug Fritz, among others.

Dyer received a brand new Weber grill as his prize.

JEFF GREEN’S HISTORY AT NEW HAMPSHIRE INT’L. SPEEDWAY: In 12 Nextel Cup Series starts at New Hampshire International Speedway, driver Jeff Green’s best qualifying effort was a 15th-place starting spot in July, 2005, while driving the No. 43 car for Petty Enterprises.

Green’s best finish was a second-place effort in this race in 2002, while driving the No. 30 for Richard Childress Racing.

HAAS CNC RACING’S HISTORY AT NEW HAMPSHIRE INT’L. SPEEDWAY: Haas CNC Racing’s best qualifying effort at New Hampshire International Speedway was a 12th-place starting spot, which came with driver Ward Burton in the July, 2004, event. The team’s best finish was an 18th-place result, scored by driver Mike Bliss in the July, 2005, race.