JEFF GREEN
NO. 66 BEST BUY RACING CHEVROLET
RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY PREVIEW

RECAP OF THE MOST RECENT RICHMOND NEXTEL CUP RACE: Jeff Green and his No. 66 Chevrolet team were well on their way to a top-15 finish in the Chevy Rock-N-Roll 400 Nextel Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway in September, 2006.

But the team’s strong run was negated by two on-track incidents involving Jimmie Johnson, the second of which resulted in NASCAR sending Green to the garage for the remainder of the night. Green was credited with a 41st-place finish.

The first encounter happened around lap 252, when Johnson got into the back of Green coming out of a turn, sending the No. 66 car spinning into the outside retaining wall. The nose on Green’s Chevrolet was damaged in the accident, and Green’s Haas CNC team spent the next 48 laps cutting away damaged sheet metal and replacing the car’s radiator. Green returned to the race around lap 300, in 40th position.

Just 21 laps later, it was Johnson’s turn to spin, courtesy of Reed Sorenson, who bumped Johnson from behind. As Johnson got his car righted, Green was on Johnson’s outside, and the two again made contact.

NASCAR showed Green the black flag for the incident, and ordered him to the garage for the rest of the race.

“I’m frustrated,” Green said at the time. “I got wrecked, then Jimmie and I got together again, and they’re saying I did something wrong. I don’t get it at all, but there’s not a lot I can do about it.”

Several reporters wrote articles questioning why Green was parked for the contact with Johnson, while a similar incident involving two other drivers at Pocono Raceway in July, 2006, resulted in one driver only being assessed a one lap penalty.

CHASSIS – Chassis No. 425 – This car made its debut at Phoenix International Raceway in April, where Jeff Green finished sixth (his best finish of 2007, tied with his sixth-place run at Bristol Motor Speedway in March). Green and his Haas CNC Racing team also tested this chassis at Richmond International Raceway on April 3-4.

TEST SUCCESS: Jeff Green posted the fifth-fastest time of the 51 drivers on hand during testing at Richmond International Raceway on Tuesday and Wednesday, April 3-4. Green’s best lap of 21.961 seconds, at an average speed of 122.945 miles per hour, came during the morning session on Wednesday, April 4.

Q&A WITH DRIVER JEFF GREEN:

You’re in the Car of Tomorrow again this weekend. How do you think the different car will affect the racing at Richmond? “I think it will still be a great race, but it’s definitely going to have a different face on it. You’re going to have to move around on the track more during the race to get the car to work, since the COT car doesn’t handle as well.

“I don’t think it’s going to cause anyone to cut back on the beating and banging and leaning on one another, though. Some people think the COT is more fragile, but I think we’ll see some guys testing that theory out on Saturday night.”

Is Richmond like most other tracks, where the best way around is to stay right down on the bottom? “No, not really. At Richmond, I’d say the outer line is probably the preferred line during the race, once the ‘new’ wears off the tires, at least. The best place to pass is getting up off both corners.”

With this being an impound race, the top-35 will likely qualify in race trim, while others will be in full qualifying trim. Are the setups that different, so that those in qualifying trim are going to have a tough time in the race? “There’s enough of a difference that it’s tough to do one lap fast and then be good in the race. If we weren’t in the top 35, Harold (Holly) would try to find a balance between a qualifying setup and a race setup to try and get the car fast enough to get in the race, but so that it would race well enough to be able to hang with the rest of the field.

“If you’re in full qualifying trim, you’re going to have a hard time maintaining your position once the race starts. It’s a very fine line, and one I’m glad we don’t have to worry about.”

NASCAR has said it’s looking at ways to tweak qualifying to give some of the guys outside the top-35 in points a better chance of making the race. What are your thoughts on that? “I think people have a valid argument when they say it should be the 43 fastest cars each week, and everyone else goes home. If I were on the outside of the top-35 looking in, I’m sure I’d be talking to NASCAR about that myself.

“The only hiccup is if someone blew a motor in qualifying, that would keep you from making a race, and that’s not necessarily fair. Maybe the best way to handle it would be to just go back to the old system, where it was the 35 fastest qualifiers, and then eight provisionals go to the guys highest in points who aren’t in the top 35.

“I understand that NASCAR is trying to protect sponsors by locking in the top 35, but you have to think that those sponsors who are outside looking in are probably trying to decide whether or not it’s worth their investment to keep missing races every week.”

Richmond is a favorite track of yours, isn’t it? “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 here. It’s just a very fun track for a driver.”

Q&A WITH CREW CHIEF HAROLD HOLLY:

Given how well you tested at Richmond, how do you feel about your prospects in Saturday’s race? “It’s going to be tough in qualifying, since it’s an impound race, but our times in race trim were right up there with the top guys, so I think we’ll be in really good shape.”

Will you qualify completely in race trim, or will you try to compromise between a qualifying setup and a race setup in order to get a better starting spot? “You’ve got to pretty much put it in race trim, but you do take advantage of the small changes NASCAR allows you to make to the car after qualifying. You’ve got to sacrifice qualifying in order to race well, I feel. You’ll see those guys outside the top-35 in points in full qualifying trim, but I don’t think they’ll be able to stay up front that way.”

There will be some daylight when the race starts. How is the COT going to react to the cooling track temperatures as the sun goes down? “The track is definitely going to speed up, and once they get some rubber down, it’s definitely going to pick up some grip at night. We feel like we’ve got a handle on which way it’s going to go, setup-wise, and it’s definitely going to tighten up, so the guys who start out too tight are going to be in a world of hurt as the night goes on.”

You’ve had a couple of strong runs recently. What’s the mood at the shop? “We’re all really happy with how we’ve performed the past couple of races, but there are definitely plenty of areas where we can improve. We’ve got to keep working on our pit stops, and definitely on getting better at the mile-and-a-half tracks, but I’m proud of the momentum we’ve generated over the past couple of races and we just want to keep that going moving forward.”

COMCAST COMMERCIAL – Jeff Green spent Monday, April 30, at Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway, filming a commercial for Comcast, the nation’s leading provider of cable, entertainment and communications product and services. Comcast is an associate sponsor of the No. 66 Best Buy Haas CNC Racing Chevrolet this season. Customers have the ability to sign up for Comcast products and services at many Best Buy locations. The spot, which will air on Comcast cable systems, will begin airing in early June.

Jeff Green – “Filming the Comcast spot was a lot of fun. I only had a few speaking lines, and most of my time was spent in the race car, so someone must have told them I’m not much of an actor. I think it’s going to be a great commercial. It’s got some humor in it, and those are the commercials I always remember as a viewer, so I can’t wait to see how it turned out.”

THE RETURN OF “GEE” – This weekend finds a familiar face returning to the over the wall crew for the No. 66 Best Buy Racing Chevrolet. Phillip Gee, who served as the team’s jackman for most of the 2006 season, will be the team’s catch can man at Richmond International Raceway.

Gee has been sidelined from his pit crew duties since undergoing surgery for a torn ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) and MCL (medial collateral ligament) in his left knee last October. He injured the knee performing a pit stop with the No. 66 team in the October 22nd NEXTEL Cup race at Martinsville Speedway.

PHILLIP GEE: “I’m probably back to about 90 percent. I’ve gone through a lot of physical therapy. I was going five days a week for about 90 minutes at a time there for awhile. It took me a couple of months before I could put any weight on it at all, so I was stuck on the couch, watching a lot of Jerry Springer and Judge Mathis (laughing).

“My knee still gets a little sore when I stay on it for a long time, but I’m getting there. I’m looking forward to getting back to the track and back over the wall. I’ve missed it a lot.”

BACK TO NATURE: Before heading to Richmond, Jeff Green spent several days Turkey hunting at his farm, located about 70 miles south of his hometown of Owensboro, KY. An avid hunter, Green made the most of the final week of the spring Turkey hunting season in Kentucky, which ends Monday, May 6.

Green carries a Turkey call with him most of the time, and the sound of him practicing his call can often be heard around the NEXTEL Cup garage area when the cars aren’t on the track.

JEFF GREEN’S HISTORY AT RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY: In 14 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 seven 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.