JEFF GREEN
NO. 66 BEST BUY HAAS CNC RACING CHEVROLET
WATKINS GLEN PREVIEW

SPECIAL PAINT DESIGN: The No. 66 Best Buy Haas CNC Racing entry will carry a special paint design this weekend at Watkins Glen International to help raise awareness for the Best Buy Teach (te@ch) program, which rewards K-12 teachers and schools nationwide for demonstrating innovative use of technology to improve students’ classroom experience.

Best Buy will announce the winner of its $250,000 Teach Award Monday, August 14, the day after the Watkins Glen race.

Since 2003, the Best Buy Teach program has awarded more than $9.5 million to K-12 schools across the U.S., serving as the cornerstone of its community and philanthropic work. Each winning school may use its Teach Award to purchase additional consumer electronics technology at Best Buy to extend, expand, or enhance current and future classroom curricula.

Each year, 1,200 classrooms across the U.S. are selected for a $2,500 Teach Award for demonstrating how interactive technology makes learning fun for students. Additionally, 36 K-12 schools each receive a $15,000 Teach Award for exceptional classroom innovation with technology. Each district of those 36 schools was invited to apply for the $250,000 Teach Award, to be announced August 14.

Best Buy accepts voluntary applications from teachers and schools across the nation via an online process, open from July through September 30. A list of all $15,000 and $2,500 Teach Award-winning schools, as well as a link to the 2006 award application, can be found at http://bestbuy.com/teach.

Q&A WITH DRIVER JEFF GREEN:

YOU’VE HAD A TOUGH COUPLE OF WEEKS IN TERMS OF PERFORMANCE. HOW DO YOU FEEL HEADING IN TO WATKINS GLEN? “I feel optimistic. I think us going to a different style track could be just what we need at this point. It’s been disappointing the past few weeks, but everyone on the team is doing everything they can to try and make us better. You’re going to have tough times in this sport, and the only thing you can do is just keep the faith and keep after it.

“I’m not going to lie and say it’s fun when you’re not running well. No driver got into this business to run mid-pack. But, if there’s anything I’ve learned about this sport, it’s that you’re not always going to be on top of the hill, and you’re not always going to be at the bottom of the hill either. You just have to keep working and trying to identify where you’re lacking and get the thing fixed.”

Q&A WITH CREW CHIEF “BOOTIE” BARKER:

ARE YOU TAKING THE SAME CAR TO WATKINS GLEN THAT YOU FINISHED 19TH WITH AT SONOMA? “Yeah, it’s the same car. It turned well at Sonoma, and the brakes worked well. We were a little loose off and needed some more forward bite, but we’ve made some changes to the car to compensate for that this weekend.”

THE PAST TWO MONTHS HAVE BEEN TOUGH, PERFORMANCE-WISE. AS A CREW CHIEF, WHAT DO YOU DO TO TRY AND TURN THAT AROUND? “We’ve increased our testing and have doubled our efforts to try and make our cars more competitive. I’ve been going to the Hendrick (Motorsports) engineers for their input as well. I mean, I’ve always done that, but I’ve done it even more in the past few weeks.

“We’re trying to touch on every variable and every aspect of the race team to see if we can identify the problem and improve the situation. You just have to keep digging and try to battle through it. I have faith in our crew and our organization that we can get this thing headed in the right direction.”

HOW DO YOU KEEP THE CREW’S MORALE UP WHEN YOU’RE GOING THROUGH A PERFORMANCE LULL? “Well, we’re lucky to have some good, motivated people, so they do a good job of keeping themselves motivated. I’m not much on giving ‘rah rah’ speeches, because I believe that guys can see through those.

“What I do tell my guys is that I recognize how hard they’ve been working, and I want them to know that I’m also committed to this and working hard. They know that if we keep plugging away at it, things will turn in our favor. It has to.”

JEFF GREEN’S HISTORY AT WATKINS GLEN: In four Cup starts at Watkins Glen International, Jeff Green’s best qualifying effort was a 16th-place starting spot, which came in August, 2002, while driving for Richard Childress Racing. Green’s best Cup finish at “The Glen” was a 12th-place result in that same race.

In five Busch Series starts at Watkins Glen, Green never qualified worse than 11th, and posted three top-10 finishes (fifth and sixth-place finishes in 1995 and 1996, respectively, while driving for Dale Earnhardt, and a 10th-place result in 2000, the year he won the Busch Series championship with PPC Racing).

HAAS CNC RACING’S HISTORY AT WATKINS GLEN: In three Nextel Cup Series starts at Watkins Glen International, the Haas CNC Racing team’s best starting and finishing position came with driver John Andretti in the August, 2003, event (Andretti started 15th and finished 19th in that race).

NFL TRAINING CAMP: Crew Chief Robert “Bootie” Barker, Tire Specialist Phil Ryder, and several other members of the No. 66 Best Buy Racing team will visit the Buffalo Bills’ preseason training camp at St. John Fisher College in Pittsford, N.Y. on Thursday, Aug. 10.

Barker and Ryder are making the trip to catch up with their friend, Tim Anderson, the Bills’ starting nose tackle, who’s in his fourth season with the team.

Barker: “We’ve been friends with Tim for a couple of years now. Phil’s a big Ohio State fan, and Tim played on Ohio State’s 2002 national championship team. Phil saw Tim at a race and recognized him, so he struck up a conversation, and they’ve been friends ever since. They’ve stayed in touch and we’ve had Tim out to a couple of races. He came and saw us in Pocono a few weeks ago.

“Tim’s a really good guy, and he’s a big NASCAR fan. In Pocono, we made plans to go see him at training camp. We’ll head up for the 7 o’clock (p.m.) practice, then drive back that night to be at the Glen on Friday morning. It should be a lot of fun.”