dodge cup quotes from martinsville

Saturday, Oct. 23, 2004.
Martinsville Speedway.
Subway 500 Advance.


JEFF GREEN (No. 43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge)

NOTE: Green qualified 10th fastest for Sunday's race and was fifth
fastest in the first practice session Saturday morning at Martinsville.

 

"We're getting closer. It's a lot tighter now than when we tested here,
and everybody is having a problem getting it to turn. Everybody I was
behind was too tight through the center. You always fight that here, but
we didn't real fight it in testing. The track was clean I guess. I don't
know how good of a race it's going to be. It's going to be really tough
to pass. Everybody is running about the same speed and if you ever get
off the bottom, it seems like there's so much stuff on the outside it
takes a lap to get your tires cleaned back off. It's going to be tough
to pass I think.

 

"We had a great test, and that really helped us get a jump on the guys.
We qualified well, and with the track conditions and the way passing is
going to be, qualifying became even more important. We really needed to
qualify well. I think we've got a good enough car to run in the top 10
all day. We'll get a good pit stall and try to stay out of trouble. Any
time you come to a short track you have to think about the whole
situation. It takes more than a fast racecar to win. Hopefully we'll get
around some people that will get a lap down and we can get in and out
easy."

 

WILL RUSTY WALLACE HAVE THE CAR TO BEAT SUNDAY? "I think he'll
definitely be one of the guys you have to beat. There's so many of them.
I don't know if you can single out any, but Rusty knows how to get
around here and he knows what it takes at the end of the day to stand up
over there in victory lane. With winning the spring race here, he's got
the momentum from that, but a lot of guys that can step up and do the
same thing. We've just got to get our Cheerios Dodge driving as good as
we can and hopefully we can be there to race those guys."

 

WILL THE 43 TEAM BE IN A POSITION TO GO FOR BROKE TOMORROW? "Oh yeah, we
don't have anything to lose. We're just trying to gain for next year,
get our cars better and our motor program is coming around a little bit
since we've changed. All that stuff is working together. We've just got
to make sure we take advantage of it and benefit from the things we can
learn this year. Hopefully we'll have something to lose this time next
year. The King has won so many races at Martinsville, and I think this
is the last race the 43 car won. We can win anywhere. We've just got to
put the whole day together. I don't think I come to Martinsville saying
this is our opportunity because we have an opportunity to win every
week."

 

DO YOU HAVE EVERYTHING WORKED OUT FOR 2005? "We're working hard on our
motor program so we know going to Daytona that we have that situation
out of our mind. We had an option and we renewed for next year, so
that's out of the equation."

 

ARE YOU RACING THE TOP 10 DRIVERS ANY DIFFERENTLY THAN YOU NORMALLY
WOULD? "I think you've got to tip toe a little bit around them. The last
thing Jeff Green wants to do is take something away from one of those
guys who can win the championship with a stupid mistake on my part. I
can't take anything away from Cheerios or Dodge or anybody that helps
Petty Enterprises. I can't step down from the job I'm paid to do in the
43 car. I don't want to hamper anyone's day championship wise, but some
of those guys are already out of it. You look at those guys different,
too, but around the 8 and 97 and those guys, you want to do the best job
you can. Hopefully they respect me for that."

 

WHAT'S YOUR OPINION OF THE CHASE? "Everybody looking in at the first of
the year thought it was a crazy situation, but I think the end result is
pretty exciting. It's definitely gaining some excitement for our sport
with 10 to go that we wouldn't have had. Being the leader with 10 to go
and having a 300-400 point lead upset me, but you've got to put a whole
season together to win. You can have a great season for 26 races, but if
you don't have that next 10 you're not going to win. We just want to get
in that situation in years to come with the 43 car."

 

WHAT WOULD YOU BE SATISIFED WITH TOMORROW? "I think a top 10 would be
good. We've got to walk before we can run. We've got to start knocking
down some top 10s. You'll never win one of these things if you can't run
in the top 10 and top five consistently. You might luck into one, but I
couldn't swallow that. I want to be able to go out there and dominant
and run in the top five and run in the top 15 on a bad day. I think all
of us would be satisfied with a top 10, but hopefully we're not going to
end there. I think we're close. If we can get in the right situation we
can win. I think as a team, we're a little young for that, but we're
working on it. The guys are working hard and they never let down."