'Racing on Saturday Helps On Sunday'
This weekend, Jeff Green steps behind the wheel of the specialty-schemed
#43 Bugles Dodge for Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 at the Lowe's Motor
Speedway located in the city of Concord, North Carolina. The longest
event of the season, the race begins in the late afternoon and runs into
the night. The ever-changing conditions are tough for any team and
driver. Green hopes to gain an advantage on the competition by also
competing in Saturday's 300-mile Busch race. Green has, and will,
participate in several Busch races throughout the rest of the 2005
season.
Green is the only driver to have raced for the sport's biggest names.
Throughout his career, he has driven for Cup's most legendary names,
such as Junior Johnson, Felix Sabates, Richard Childress, Dale Earnhardt,
and now Richard Petty. Green is in his second full season driving the
legendary Petty Enterprises #43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge. The 2000
NASCAR Busch Grand National champion, he holds the record for the largest
point's margin after winning the championship by 616 points. He is also
a two-time NASCAR Nextel Cup pole winner, winning poles at the Bristol
(Tenn.) Motor Speedway and the pole for the 2003 Daytona 500.
The thoughts of #43 Bugles Dodge driver Jeff Green heading into Lowe's:
"Sunday is a tough race. It's long, lots of things can happen, and
everything is constantly changing. The air temperature, the track
conditions, the handling of the car, all of that stuff comes into play.
You are only guaranteed that Mile One will be nothing like Mile 600.
It's a challenge, and it's why this race holds so much prestige. It's
why everyone wants to win it. It takes a total team effort and total
communication to win this race. It's probably the most difficult race
to win on the circuit.
"You need to take advantage of any edge you can get to prepare for
Sunday's race. Any Sunday race, really. That's why you see so many
guys step over and race in the Busch Series races on Saturdays. It
brings so much more information to the table - information you can use on
Sunday. It's why I'm excited that I have the opportunity to race again
in the Busch Series this Saturday. I'm hoping that by racing in
Saturday's race that I can help this Bugles Dodge get up front.
"The Busch Series is great. I had a ton of fun, and I had a lot of
success when I was a regular competitor in the series. The focus on
Sunday, however, is this #43 Petty Enterprises Dodge, and getting it back
to its winning tradition. The Busch Series, I think, can help in that
process. I'm looking to take everything that I feel, see, and learn
from the Busch race and imply it to the Cup car. That's invaluable
information that you can't buy anywhere else. It only comes from racing
on Saturday.
"I've raced in the Busch Series a few times already this season and I
plan on a few more. That's exciting for me. I've got to give credit to
racing the Busch car in already helping us out in the Cheerios car.
Bristol was a great example. I practiced and qualified the Busch car the
same day I qualified the Cheerios Dodge. We had one of our best
qualifying efforts of the year in the Cheerios Dodge. I think a lot of
that came from just getting out of the Busch car. I knew what the track
was like, I had the 'feel' for it, and I had so much more horsepower in
the Cup car. It was heavier, and coming from a lighter Busch car, I was
able to translate how the car was going to react. We qualified sixth for
that race. I credit a lot of that to the fact I was able to take what I
knew from the Busch car and apply that to the Cup car.
"It's just a huge advantage, and it's the reason we see so
many guys race on Saturday. Racing on Saturday is helping guys win on
Sunday. It's hard to argue with that - this weekend especially. I'm
really excited about being in Saturday's race. I'd like to win both
races, but I know that the information we collect on Saturday will
translate into Sunday's race. I'll know how the tires wear, what
shocks and springs are best, and what the track might be like. That's
all information you can only get by being out there and racing.
"It's hard to explain all the advantages of racing in the
Busch Series in helping out the team for Sunday. There are so many
factors that you learn in race conditions. That's something you can't
duplicate in practice. I'm not racing an entire Busch Series schedule,
but I'm looking forward to the times I am. I think it's really helping
this Cheerios team. It's working for a lot of other teams. Look at a
guy like Carl Edwards. He's racing full time in both series, and I think
it's really advancing his learning curve.
"Sunday's race is a big event. It's big for Bugles, and
it's big for our team. We are preparing to win and to be there at the
end. A big part of that is knowing this 'new' Lowe's Motor Speedway,
knowing the track conditions when it's hot, and knowing how the car is
going to handle after long runs. This Bugles Dodge will have that
advantage on Sunday because of the work I'll put in on Saturday. The
goal is to win every race, and we're hoping Saturday will help put this
Bugles Dodge into victory lane Sunday night."
-cwc-
