NASCAR BGN: Jeff Green Fast Facts, Daytona

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

Jeff Green On Daytona: Jeff Green, 2000 NASCAR Busch Series Champion and driver of the No. 10 Nestlé Nesquik Ford Taurus, had a new superstition after he flipped his car during last year's race at Daytona.

"Last year at Daytona, I wore blue Simpson driving shoes to match Nesquik's colors of yellow and blue," said Green. "That was new for me, because ever since I started racing, I had always worn black driving shoes. Well, after I flipped at Daytona, I threw out the blue shoes and went back to the black ones for the rest of the year. Since the rest of the season went so well, I'll be wearing black shoes this year at Daytona."

Superspeedway Testing: Green and the Nesquik Racing team tested three times over the off-season for the Daytona event. They tested on Dec. 18th--19th and Jan. 3rd-4th at Talladega, and on Jan. 22nd-23rd at Daytona.

“The first test in Talladega was with NASCAR. We worked on spoilers and restrictor plate packages to help NASCAR determine the speeds they wanted the series to run this year," said Green. "On the other two tests, the Nesquik Racing team worked on qualifying runs. There’s no way you can practice drafting, because there’s not enough cars out there with you. I just want to get in the top-15 for qualifying, and then we’ll know that gives us a good enough starting place. You can win from anywhere, especially at Daytona.”

On The Competition in 2001: Green's main focus is to win back-to-back championships in 2001. He knows it will be a tough feat to accomplish and he knows there are several teams ready to step up to the plate.

“I think Kevin Harvick is probably our biggest competitor and challenger," said Green. "Jason Keller, of course, will be good. I'd love to see my brothers, David and Mark contend for the championship. That would mean a lot to me. Randy LaJoie will probably be pretty good too. He’s got a new team and it may take some time for them to gel, but you can never count him out.”

On Changing Manufacturers: Green is not too concerned over the manufacturer change from Chevrolet to Ford over the off-season or the new engine program for the NASCAR Busch Series this year.

“I really don't think the engine change and manufacturer change will be an obstacle to overcome this year," said Green. " The negatives are that we can't really use our notes from last year, but everyone will be in that same situation since the tires and the motors are changing. The positives are that we feel the Ford Taurus is a better race car. I know a lot of people questioned us when we made the manufacturer change, but we did it because we feel the Ford is stronger. I think if we had to pick a year to make the change, we picked a good one because every team will be have to start from scratch with their notes. I think that will actually work in our favor because I feel our Nesquik Racing team is very fast at adapting to change.”

Equipment: The Nesquik Racing team is taking a brand new car to Daytona

Text Provided By Marcy Scott

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