JEFF GREEN
NO. 66 HAAS CNC RACING CHEVROLET
RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY PREVIEW

Q&A WITH DRIVER JEFF GREEN:

You had a good test at Richmond International Raceway a few weeks ago. What are your thoughts on the track? “Yeah, we tested well there and really learned a lot. I love the place. Instead of just racing there two times a year, I think we ought to race there something like 15 times a year. You can race hard and move around, you can get side by side there. It’s just a very fun track for a driver.”

You’re just outside the top-20 in points. How has the season so far compared to the goals you set at the beginning of the year? “We got off to a slow start. That 42nd (place finish) at Daytona just really put us behind at the beginning of the season. I think all the guys have done a great job of keeping their heads on straight and not getting discouraged. There’s a couple of tracks where I wish we would have run better, and then we’ve just had some strange stuff happen to us that kept us from finishing better at a few other places.

“With a little luck at Richmond and Darlington, I think we can get in the top-20, and that’s a pretty good spot to be this early in the season. All in all, I’m very pleased with how the season is shaping up.”

Now that you’ve gotten some laps on it, what do you think of the newly-repaved Lowe’s Motor Speedway? “It’s a lot smoother than it used to be, that’s for sure. A lot of the bumps are gone. There are still a few, but not nearly what there used to be. It hasn’t got a lot of grip with the harder tires. The first few laps can be a little squirrelly if you’re not careful, but I think they’ve done a good job with the track. We just need to figure out how to make our car handle better with the different tires and we’ll be fine.”

Q&A WITH CREW CHIEF “BOOTIE” BARKER:

Other than the fact that it’s in your home state, what do you like about Richmond International Raceway? “It’s just one of my favorites. It’s a short track, but it’s got a lot of speed to it. You can race two-wide on it, too. It’s got some banking, but it’s also got a flat track feel to it, and I always love racing at night. It’s just one of those tracks that’s got all the elements that make racing fun.”

Do you enjoy night racing more than the daytime races? “Yeah, I do. There’s something about night racing that seems to make the drivers more aggressive. I’m not sure why – maybe it brings out the Werewolf in them, I don’t know.”

What did you find out in your test at Lowe’s Motor Speedway this week? “It’s about what I expected. The tires are very hard and don’t have a lot of grip, so you see a lot of sliding around. I’m not sure what it’s going to take to get the car to handle well. No matter what we’ve been trying, the car just won’t turn like we want it to.”

Will there be any track speed records broken at Lowe’s Motor Speedway? “No, if anything, the cars are going slower. NASCAR has us using a right side tire that’s an inch narrower than the left side tire, and that’s slowing things down.”

Haas CNC Racing’s Busch Series team was also out at Lowe’s Motor Speedway during the test session. As a single-car Nextel Cup team, does it help to have the Busch Series team there to bounce ideas off of? “Yeah, that’s very helpful. It just gives you the opportunity to try a lot more different ideas than you would if you’re testing by yourself. Some of the other Cup teams have three and four teams testing, so they can really throw everything at the car to see what works. We don’t have that luxury, so having the Busch team with us was a great help.

“It’s also nice to have a crew chief like Harold (Holly, crew chief of the Haas CNC Racing Busch Series team) to bounce ideas off of. He’s a smart man, and two heads are always better than one.”

GREEN, NO. 66 TEAM POSTS TOP-10 TIME IN RICHMOND TESTING: Jeff Green and the No. 66 Haas CNC Racing team posted the eighth-fastest lap time overall during Nextel Cup testing at Richmond International Raceway, held from April 11-13. Green’s best effort was a lap of 21.443 seconds at an average speed of 125.915 miles per hour, which came during the PM session on the second day of testing, Wednesday, April 12.

JEFF GREEN’S HISTORY AT RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY: In 12 Nextel Cup Series starts at Richmond International Raceway, Jeff Green’s best finish was a third-place result in the September, 2002, event, while driving for Richard Childress Racing. His best starting spot was also a third-place effort, which came in the May, 2004, event, while driving for Petty Enterprises.

In 18 Busch Series starts at Richmond, Green has one win (May 5, 2000), four top-five and six top-10 finishes, and two pole positions. Green’s first pole at Richmond came in the May 5, 2000, event, the race he eventually won. His second pole position came in September, 2001.

HAAS CNC RACING’S HISTORY AT RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY: In six Nextel Cup Series starts at Richmond International Raceway, Haas CNC Racing’s best starting spot was a 15th-place starting spot, which was scored by driver Ward Burton in May, 2004. The team’s best finish came in the September, 2005, event, where driver Mike Bliss finished 15th.