JEFF GREEN
NO. 66 BEST BUY HAAS CNC RACING CHEVROLET
NEXTEL OPEN / LOWE’S MOTOR SPEEDWAY PREVIEW

ONE YEAR AGO AT LOWE’S MOTOR SPEEDWAY: In the May Nextel Cup Series event at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Jeff Green qualified 10th and ran up front for most of the race. Green led 16 laps on his way to a 12th-place finish, the best finish the No. 66 Best Buy Chevrolet team had scored to that point of the year.

SO CLOSE – Jeff Green and the No. 66 Best Buy Racing team finished second in the 2006 NEXTEL Open at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, but under last year’s rules, only the winner (Scott Riggs) advanced to the NEXTEL All-Star Challenge. A rules change this year gives both the winner and the second-place finisher from the Open a spot in the All-Star event. If Green can either duplicate or improve on last year’s effort, he’ll secure a spot in the All-Star Challenge for the first time in his NEXTEL Cup career.

CHASSIS: Haas CNC Racing Chassis No. 12: This chassis has been a workhorse for the Haas CNC Racing team this season. Driver Jeff Green has raced this car at California Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway in 2007, with finishes of 30th, 25th and 26th, respectively. The No. 66 team tested with this chassis at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, posting the eighth-fastest time of the afternoon session on Monday, May 7, and the 13th-fastest time in the evening session that day.

Q&A WITH DRIVER JEFF GREEN:

How do you think you and your team will do at Lowe’s Motor Speedway? “I feel really good about our chances. We were really fast on the first day of testing. The second day, we didn’t get to where we wanted to be, but I think Harold (Holly, crew chief) and the guys can tweak our setup a little and get us up front. We did really well here last year, led some laps and finished well in both races, and I think we can back that up this time around.”

You’re currently 23rd in points. Are you performing up to your expectations so far this season? “We’ve performed up to my expectations at times, but we’re definitely not where we want to be. We’ve really struggled with the older cars this year, much more than I expected us to. I think we’re starting to get a handle on it, so hopefully you’ll see that at Lowe’s (Motor Speedway).

“As far as the Car of Tomorrow, we’ve performed pretty well in four of the five races, but we’ve got some areas we need to improve on there as well. We avoided any brake problems at Darlington (Raceway), but I just didn’t have the grip I needed to be able to pass people like I wanted. Having the Dover (International Speedway) test get cancelled is also a little bit of a setback, but everyone’s in the same boat on that.

“I’d love to be in the top-20 in points right now. If we can come out of Lowe’s and Dover with some decent finishes, I think we’ll be headed in the right direction.”

As someone who’s driven for Dale Earnhardt, Inc., what do you think of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s decision to leave the organization? “I really admire Dale Jr. for making what had to be a hard decision for him. At the end of the day, he did what he felt like he had to do to put himself in position to win championships, and you can’t fault a guy for that. He’s a very smart guy, and I know it was a decision he didn’t make lightly.

“As far as DEI, it’s been several years since I drove for them (Green drove in 12 Cup races in the No. 1 DEI entry in 2003), so I can’t really speak to what may or may not be going on with that organization. They always gave me great equipment and I made a lot of good friends there, so I wish them well.”

Q&A WITH CREW CHIEF HAROLD HOLLY:

How did the test session at Lowe’s Motor Speedway earlier this month turn out for the No. 66 team? “The first day was great, but the second day was pretty rough. We had our fast car on the first day, and we spent the second day trying to get our second car to compare with our fast car. We struggled with that most of the day.

“By the time we switched back to the fast car late in the day, we were a step or two behind what the track was doing, and we spent the rest of the time trying to catch back up. I think we learned a lot of good information, and I think we’ll be good when we go back, but that second day wasn’t the best day of testing we’ve ever had.”

Now that this new track surface has a year of wear and weathering, do you see a big difference in how the car responds? “We’re still using the same tire we had from the spring race here last year, but I have to say the tires seem to be hanging on to the grip pretty well.”

GREEN RAISES GREEN – The Green Foundation is joining forces with The NASCAR Foundation to support NASCAR Day.

On Friday, May 18th, The NASCAR Foundation is hosting an inaugural NASCAR Day Telethon from the Sam Bass Gallery in Charlotte, NC. Jeff Green will answer phones from 10 a.m.-10:30 a.m. EDT to help raise funds for NASCAR Day and the Green Foundation, a charitable organization founded by Green and his older brother, Mark.

Fans can call 1-888-May 18th (1-888-629-1884) on Friday, May 18th and make a donation to the NASCAR Day Telethon. By mentioning Jeff Green’s name, every donation will go directly to the Green Foundation, which helps support Victory Junction Gang Camp, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the Children’s Miracle Network, the Women’s Auxiliary of Motorsports, as well as charities in Green’s hometown of Owensbory, KY.

Green is offering an autographed Best Buy Racing hat to the first 100 people to call in and donate $100.00 to the Green Foundation.

Fans can also visit www.nascar.com/foundation to make a donation online and indicate Green’s name on the donation form, or stop by the Sam Bass Gallery from 10am – 4pm to join in on the NASCAR Day Celebration.

For more information about the Green Foundation, visit www.thegreenfoundation.org.

GET TO KNOW THE NO. 66 CREW: Best Buy Racing’s website is highlighting the crew members of the No. 66 Haas CNC Racing team. Fans can learn how team members got into racing, their shop and race duties, and even what purchase each crewman made on his last visit to Best Buy, by logging on to www.racing.bestbuy.com.

LOCALS: Several members of the No. 66 Best Buy Racing team were born in North Carolina, including Tire Specialist Jeff Tucker (High Point, NC), Second Truck Driver Gary Buffkin (Whiteville, NC), and pit crew member Phillip Gee (Mt. Pleasant, NC).

JEFF GREEN’S HISTORY AT LOWE’S MOTOR SPEEDWAY: In 13 Nextel Cup Series starts at Lowe’s Motor Speedway (LMS), Jeff Green’s best qualifying effort was a fourth-place starting spot in the May, 1997, race, driving for team owner Gary Bechtel. Green’s best Cup finish at Lowe’s was an 11th-place finish in May, 2005, driving a Petty Enterprises car.

In 18 Busch Series starts at LMS, Green has two wins (Green won the May race two years in a row, in 2001 and 2002, but the wins came with different teams. In 2001, Green won while working with Harold Holly and their Greg Pollex-owned team, but his 2002 victory came in a Richard Childress Racing entry), six top-fives and 10 top-10 finishes.

HAAS CNC RACING’S HISTORY AT LOWE’S MOTOR SPEEDWAY: In eight Nextel Cup Series starts at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, the Haas CNC Racing team’s best starting spot was a fifth-place qualifying run by driver Jack Sprague in the May, 2003, race. The team’s best finish came in May, 2006, when driver Jeff Green finished 12th.