NASCAR BGN: Jeff Green returns home to Kentucky Speedway

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

June 14, 2001

Jeff Green returns home this weekend as the Busch Series makes its inaugural visit to the 1.5-mile Kentucky Speedway for Saturday night's Outback Steakhouse 300. The Owensboro, Ky., native is looking to rebound from 29th-place performance in Dover that saw him slip to second in the point standings and opened up a 75-point deficit to Kevin Harvick. Green spoke about his season and what he expects from this weekend's activities in Kentucky.

JEFF GREEN-10-Nestle Nesquik Ford Taurus - YOU'VE PULLED DOUBLE-DUTY A COUPLE TIMES THIS SEASON RACING IN THE BUSCH SERIES AND WINSTON CUP. HAS THAT BEEN TOUGH? "No, not really. The rules are so much alike now, the motor rules especially, it makes both cars drive alike, so that's made it easier on me. If it had been last year, then I would say yes, but that's one reason I didn't veer away from it when they asked me to do it because I knew it would be so close that I wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Plus, I'd get twice as much practice and that would help in both cars."

DO YOU THINK THAT COMPETING IN BOTH SERIES FULL-TIME WILL WEAR ON KEVIN HARVICK? "It's definitely easier mentally because you don't have to think about what car you're driving, but physically it's still there because you have to go back and forth. I don't think I'd want to do it every week like he's doing. I think he has the Kentucky-Pocono combo this weekend. It'll be tough for him and it doesn't look like the weather is going to cooperate either."

DO YOU LOOK AT THAT AND SAY THIS IS WEEKEND TO CAPITALIZE ON THE FACT HE COULD BE WORN DOWN? "I think every weekend is. Whichever race track we're going to, we know we have a shot to win. Lucky us, we get to go to my home state in front of a lot of my fans and family. Hopefully that will help motivate us and the end result should be better for us."

THE CREW THAT WORKS ON THE WINSTON CUP CAR YOU'VE BEEN DRIVING IS THE SAME CREW THAT WORKS ON THE NO. 2 BUSCH CAR. HOW IS IT WORKING WITH YOUR BIGGEST COMPETITORS? "It's a lot better than I thought it would be. All of us in the garage are friends no matter what point position or who we park by every week. We park by those guys every week, so that makes us want to like each other and we want to be friends. We're all human, we have to have other lives outside of racing. We both know that when we put our helmets on and we go out to race each other, we know that we have a job at hand and that's the way we look at it in each race car. It doesn't matter what day I'm racing on, we still have to the same job and that's the best job we can for our sponsors and our team."

THIS IS THE FIRST BUSCH RACE AT KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY, BUT CAN YOU CALL THIS YOUR HOME TRACK? "Well, it's my home state. I guess it's the closest track to Owensboro that we race on. I'm just exicted that Kentucky has a race now because I know there are a lot of NASCAR fans there."

DOES THAT ADD TO THE PRESSURE KNOWING THAT YOU'RE COMPETING IN FRONT OF A LOT OF YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS? "I don't think so. We put pressure on ourselves every week to do as well as we can no matter what the race track."

GREG BIFFLE RACED AT KENTUCKY LAST YEAR IN THE TRUCK SERIES. WILL HE BE SOMEONE THAT YOU WILL LOOK TO FOR HELP? "You could, but I don't know if he'll tell you straight or not. We have four hours of practice before we ever go into competition as far as qualifying. I think all of us will figure it out. I'm sure we could go ask Greg, and he's going to tell you what he wants you to know. He realizes that he's racing us every week and we realize the same thing; I don't think that we're going to tell each other everything."

THERE ARE FOUR OR FIVE TRUCK SERIES REGULARS COMPETING THIS WEEKEND. IS THAT A SURPRISE? "No, not really. Some of those teams need fill-ins in the Busch Series and the truck guys have already been there, so they are probably the best to get. Those guys ran there last year and that's the best place to look for experience. If I had a car and had an injured driver or a car that needed a driver, I would definitely look for experience first and that's probably what got them the job."

YOU HAD SOME BAD LUCK IN DOVER. HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO REBOUND AND BUILD SOME POSITIVE MOMENTUM THIS WEEKEND? "I don't know if it's any more important than the rest of them, but we definitely need to rebound and we need to quit losing points and start gaining. But also, we're focused on getting in Victory Lane. If we can do that, we will gain the most points and close the gap to first."

THIS IS THE SECOND OF FOUR NEW VENUES FOR THE BUSCH SERIES THIS YEAR. DO THESE WEEKENDS SEEM TO TAKE MORE ENERGY SINCE YOU DON'T HAVE NOTES TO REFERENCE? "All of us have tested there, just about, so it's like going back to a track that we've been to already. I heard the track is a little bit different than when we tested in December, so we'll have to get used to that a little bit. I think that's where a good team shines. They're able to figure it out better, quicker and that pays dividends at the end of the weekend, when you can figure it out quicker because you can make your car better at the end."

THIS IS ANOTHER 1.5-MILE TRI-OVAL. IS IT COMPARABLE TO ANY OTHER TRACKS ON THE CIRCUIT? "It's kind of like Las Vegas with a little more banking. You drive it about the same as you do for all these mile-and-a-half tracks. We feel like it's a track that you can pass on, it's plenty wide. If you have a faster race car, you're going to be able to pass people. That's a driver's dream, and these places where you follow the leader and it's hard to pass, we don't like to go there. This is a track that we know we can pass on if we get our car working like we want to."

A LOT OF THE NEW TRACKS SEEM TO HAVE TWO RACING GROOVES. ARE YOU HAPPY TO SEE SOME OF 1.5-MILE TRACKS CROP UP ON THE CIRCUIT? "I enjoy that speed, and again, in the more successful race teams, it shows up more. My race team and the guys who run good each week tend to run even better on these kinds of race tracks. It makes the cream rise to the top, and I feel like I've got the cream of the crop in the Busch Series and we hope to rise higher than the rest of them."

HOW IMPORTANT IS THE OPEN TEST DAY ON THURSDAY? "We're lucky, when we have a night race we usually practice in 90-degree temperatures in the middle of the afternoon, so that practice will be a great race practice for us. If we're lucky, we'll have the same conditions on both nights, Thursday night and Saturday night, so that we can get our race package really good and won't have to adjust on it much. Unfortunately, the Busch races are so short that you don't get a lot of time to work on your car during the race, so if you're not good when you start, you're just going to behind the whole day. Hopefully we can get that out of the way on Thursday night."

THERE ARE A LOT OF TEAMS CONTENDING FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP THIS YEAR. DOES THAT SAY SOMETHING POSITIVE ABOUT THE LEVEL OF COMPETITION IN THE BUSCH SERIES? "I think it's positive, and I think the fans are enjoying it more. I definitely enjoyed our 600-point lead last year, but for the fan that's betting on his or her driver, I think it makes a better race for them. It makes it a little more nail-biting for us, and we have to watch the steps we make throughout the year because of that, but it's still a better race for the fans, and that's what our sport is all about. If we have boring races, that turns into boring championships, and the people might not tune in, so I think it's good for our sport."

ARE YOU MORE APT TO TAKE RISKS AND GO FOR THE WIN RATHER THAN POINTS WHEN YOU HAVE A LEAD LIKE YOU DID LAST YEAR? "If the opportunity arose I think you would, but we approached every race last year like it was our last. We wanted to make sure we did the best job we could on that particular day and hopefully that was winning the race. I didn't as a driver, and I don't think my team did as a team, take any different chances than we would if it was only a one-point lead. It can probably get into that if you let it, but I don't think any of us let it."

DOES HAVING A VETERAN TEAMMATE WHO IS AT THE SAME LEVEL MAKE IT EASIER FOR YOU? "I don't know if it makes it easier or not, but you definitely have twice as much information coming in. We're fortunate that Jason and myself have similar kinds of driving styles. Our setups are pretty close, so we can relate a lot to each other. It would be a lot different if you had a different feel for a car and couldn't relate your notes back and forth. I think the more information that you can gather the easier it's going to make it, and hopefully the better it's going to make it, so it should turn into results, too."

Text provided by Greg Shea

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