NASCAR WCUP: Interview: Jeff Green gets first Winston Cup pole at Bristol
Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
August 25, 2001Jeff Green, No. 30 AOL Chevrolet Monte Carlo (first Winston Cup career pole): "I knew this Chevrolet was awesome all day long. I knew if I could pull a lap like I'd been doing all day and if the guys gave me a racecar like I'd had all day, that we had a shot at winning the pole. I just didn't think the track would be that slow. The track was a lot slicker. My car pushed on (turns) two, three, and four. It cost me a tenth or so down there. I never dreamed that it would hold up. I figured (Jeff) Gordon and those guys would be a little bit better. But we were the fastest and that's what matters. You know, this is my favorite race track. A lot of people ask me about that and Bristol is the first one that comes out of my mouth. I guess that's the way it's supposed to be. But it's all about the guys and this AOL Chevrolet. We were fast off the truck and that's what it takes to win poles and win races."
(On this being a good weekend for Richard Childress Racing): "It's a credit to what Richard (Childress) does with his teams and to Mike Skinner for sitting on the outside front row like he is. Kevin Harvick would have been there with us if he hadn't of had a problem. That's why I chose to go with RCR for the next three years. It's a first-class operation from the guys he hires to the equipment we run. When you're sitting in great equipment and you've got good guys surrounding you, that's what makes results and wins championships. I'm very fortunate to have those guys. I've been racing Todd Barrier and Kevin Harvick on the Busch side and they've been beating my butt every week. I'm proud to be a part of them now. I've still got a job I've got to do for Nesquik and Ford and try to win races every week for the rest of the year in the Busch Series. But I'm really looking forward to next year and the years after that, hopefully with RCR, and then I can retire after that. I've got 10 or 12 years more, and hopefully I can stay there the rest of my career."
(As a part-time effort and only 7 races with this team this year, did you think you'd have a shot at a pole this soon?) "We're very fortunate that we've gotten to test everywhere we've raced. You get seven tests and we're racing seven races. That gives us a little bit of an advantage on the guys that didn't get to test. We've had opportunities in the first four races I think. I don't know if we'd sit on the pole, but to be in the top five or top 10. Going out the first two or three of them didn't help us. We didn't have the results we wanted in qualifying. We've had good races, we just haven't had the results there either. We've just got to put a whole weekend together and this is the first step toward it."
(What does it mean to get your first Cup pole?) "It means we get the first pick on pit road tomorrow night, that's about it. Hopefully this is the first of many. I'm very fortunate to have a great race team. It sure helps when you've got guys who put together a racecar like they do. They're a first class operation. When you get the tires on the ground and you can get the throttle down like I could today, it made my job a little easier. It made it kind of tough going back and forth between the Cup and the Busch car today, but I just had to set my mind right when I got in that AOL Chevy to make sure I did my job. I didn't want to let them down. I was really kind of disappointed with my lap, but it held up for us."
(Do you feel comfortable and safe in your racecar?) "Absolutely. We did some work on our seat this week. Brian Butler has come out with a new headrest and shoulder supports and we put that in our Chevrolet. It really makes me feel safer and I'm sure it is or we wouldn't have done it. What we've learned over the last six to eight months on seat and seatbelt and headrest technology is really making us feel safer. I feel safer now in my racecar than I ever have. Wearing the Hutchens devices adds to that and I'm very proud of that. You know, this track is fast but you're still not running 180 mph. You can still get hurt here. You can break stuff here. And we're just trying to make it as safe as we can. We're still not trying to hit anything either. We're just trying to make it safe, pull in those belts as tight as we can, and then after that it's in the good Lord's hands."
Text provided by Nancy Wager
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