Jeff Green Dodge Charger notes from DIS

Jan. 18, 2005
Daytona International Speedway
Day One, Second Session.


JEFF GREEN (No. 43 Cheerios Dodge Charger)

NOTE: Green posted the fourth and fifth fastest times in the morning
session.

 

CAN YOU FEEL THE DIFFERENCE IN THE MOTOR? "It's hard to come to a
restrictor-plate racetrack and really tell a lot about motors because
you're so underpowered anyway, but I think every driver will tell you
coming up through the gears is the tale of the tape. Coming up through
the gears repeats on your lap, too, so the faster you get up to speed
the more speed you're going to have basically. So, yes, I think I can
tell a difference. I think the big test will be in two weeks at Las
Vegas and California, but I think we're ahead of where we were last year
already."

 

YOU WON THE POLE FOR THE 2002 DAYTONA 500. IS THAT POSSIBLE AGAIN IN
2005? "We're knocking on the door being that good. We unloaded second or
third quickest here. We really hadn't put forth any effort to go faster.
We just tried some things to see if it helps or hurt. Those guys last
week ran pretty good, but the weather was a lot different. I don't know
if the wind was blowing like it is today, either. You really can't
compare last week and say we're quicker. Hopefully the week will get
better as we go and we can compare to that. We're a little bit off from
where they were last week."

 

IS THIS THE FIRST TIME YOU'VE TESTED THE CHARGER? "We went to Kentucky
with it in December. I'm pretty happy with it. It's different looking in
the front because it's got a different intake on the radiator, but with
the new rules, the spoiler rules, I think what Dodge did and all the
hard work they did will pay off for us. I think it's a better racetrack.
Hopefully the downforce we lost with a shorter spoiler, the other guys
lost more than we did and the Charger will help us get back on the top
of the game."

 

DO YOU FEEL RACIER IN THE CHARGER? "Any time you put something that's
been successful back in play I think that helps everything. It makes for
a better racecar. I haven't seen the passenger car yet, but hopefully
it'll look more like the racecar and hopefully we'll be able to sell
them on Mondays after we win on Sundays with them."

 

DO YOU THINK YOU CAN PICK UP WHERE YOU LEFT OFF LAST SEASON? "Sometimes
when you change you stumble a little bit, but I don't think we've
stumbled any, I don't think. It seems like Greg Steadman (crew chief)
and I have really hit it off. Greg has been able to fix the car better
throughout the race for me, and make it drive better and handle better.
That's where you win races. That's where you're able to beat everybody
else with how you adjust through the day. That's the biggest plus. Greg
has got everybody in line. He's a very people person, and that's what it
takes. It takes chemistry. Everybody's got to work good together. I see
that more in him than a lot of crew chiefs I've worked with."

 

IS WINNING THE No. 1 PRIORITY? "My goal is to win races and be
competitive each week. If you do that you're going to be there. I think
if you start out the season just to collect points and make sure you're
in the top 10 it's probably not going to happen. The main thing is to
try to be as good as you can each week. I try to do my job through the
week, try to get information to Greg on the weekend so we can make our
cars better each and every week. If we can do that, we'll be
competitive. Our problem last year was once we got competitive we
couldn't finish. The motors would blow up or we'd get in accidents or
things like that. The main thing is for me to do my job to get the
information back and go out and try to win every week. If you can't do
that, then you try to do the best job you can. If you have a fifth place
car, try to finish fifth or maybe fourth. You can't try to win with it
and not bring anything home, so that's my main focus. I was lucky enough
to win a Busch Championship, so that's my goal. That's what I
concentrate on each and every week is do what the car will let me do and
not try to make anything else out of it. I was lucky enough to finish in
the top five a lot that way because we had top five cars. Hopefully we
can get our Cheerios Dodge that way, too."

 

WOULD IT BE EASIER FOR YOU TO WIN A RACE OR MAKE THE CHASE? "I think as
young as we are it would be easier to win a race. We still have hurdles
we have to get over, but if you're that competitive you're not going to
step up and just win one. You've got to be competitive enough to run in
the top 10 and top five. Every once in awhile somebody is going to win
on gas mileage, but for the most part, I want to make our team and car
as competitive as we can make it, make it a top five car every week and
if you have a bad day finish 10th with it. If we can do that we'll have
a chance to win, too."

 

DO YOU GO TO ANY TRACKS WHERE YOU FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE AN EDGE? "Not with
these guys. This competition level is so high everybody runs good
everywhere. Personally, I think I get around any track as good as
anybody else. I don't dislike going anywhere. I love to go to Richmond
and the other short tracks because that's what we grew up on, but I love
to go to California and Vegas and Michigan. In my earlier days, four or
five years ago, there were places I didn't like to go, but you go there
and run good, so it made you like it."

 

DID YOU TALK TO KYLE ABOUT HIS TEST HERE LAST WEEK? "I haven't talked to
Kyle, but Greg went over a lot of stuff they did. You can't really tell,
especially at a test or practice what Kyle's got. It's good for us
because we can use his information. He got us really close before we
unloaded. When I rode off pit road this morning I was pretty upbeat when
I shifted into high gear. That's really I tell as a driver how a
restrictor 

plate motor really runs. How good it comes up to speed and how quick you
can get it in high gear. I got it into high gear pretty quick. I was
pretty happy about that."

 

SO THE EVERNHAM MOTORS WILL MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE? "Well, they bring
more than the motors. They bring the whole motor package, tailpipes,
carburetor, the whole nine yards. From the radiator until it goes out
the exhaust pipes is an Evernham deal. I think it's a better deal than
just bringing the motor. They've researched and developed and they know
what works. That's better for us too, and I think that gets us ahead of
the game. We can go to each and every race now and not have to worry
about the motor, not have to even think about the motor program. With
the gear rule now, you don't have to think about the gears, either, so
all we have to do is work on our cars and make them drive good. I think
we'll have a shot at being very competitive."

 

DO YOU THINK THERE WILL BE A BIG LEARNING CURVE WITH THE CHARGER? "I
don't think so. We still go to the wind tunnel, and we're still looking
for the same kind of numbers. With the spoiler the way it is, we're
still looking for the same kind of aerodynamics. There's definitely
going to be a little learning curve on some of these tracks with the
shorter blade in traffic. I think that's probably the biggest thing
we're going to have to learn and everybody will have to learn how it's
going to react around 40 other cars. It's going to be different because
we don't have much to hold us down back there."

 

GETTING THE 43 BACK IN VICTORY LANE WOULD MEAN A LOT TO A LOT OF PEOPLE
DON'T YOU THINK? "It would be the happiest day in my life. The 43 is old
school, and I think the fans pull for the 43 because of that. I was
driving into the track today and it was Richard Petty Blvd. That sent
chills down my back. Me being able to drive that racecar is pretty
awesome."

 

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