Jeff Green No. 66 Haas Automation CNC Racing Chevrolet Pocono Preview

MOST RECENT RACE AT POCONO: Jeff Green started 39th in the July 10, 2007, NEXTEL Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway. Electrical issues plagued the No. 66 team throughout the rain-shortened event, and Green brought home a 32nd-place finish.

CHASSIS – HAAS CNC RACING CHASSIS NO. 028: This chassis is a new addition to the Haas CNC Racing inventory this season. Green and the No. 66 team tested with this chassis at Nashville Superspeedway and Lowe’s Motor Speedway in May.

Green has also driven this car at the most recent race at Pocono (where he finished 32nd), and the following week at Michigan Speedway (where he finished 36th).

Since that time, the team has made a number of body modifications to the chassis, and recently took it to the wind tunnel in North Carolina.

TESTING: Jeff Green and the No. 66 team are scheduled to spend Wednesday, August 1, testing at the Road Atlanta road course near Braselton, Ga., in preparation from the upcoming road course race at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International.

Q&A WITH DRIVER JEFF GREEN:

YOU’VE HAD SOME REAL UPS AND DOWNS THIS SEASON. IS IT DIFFICULT TO STAY MOTIVATED? “No, it’s not hard for me to stay motivated. I’ve been racing since I was eight years old, so that’s 36 years of learning that you can’t get too overconfident when things are going well, and you can’t get too down when times are tough. If you can’t learn to shake it off when you have a bad day, you’ll have ulcers the size of dinner plates.

“I’m not excited that we haven’t been putting the finishes up that we want, but I know everyone is working their tails off to get better, at the shop and at the track. The great thing about our sport is, every week is a fresh start and another chance to have a good run.

“My goal right now is to do everything we can to get back up in the points, finish this season strong, and get some momentum going for next season. With the car of tomorrow coming in fulltime next year, this is honestly the most I’ve ever looked forward to an off season, because we’ve already shown how good we can be with the new car.”

HOW DO YOU SUM UP POCONO RACEWAY? “It’s a unique track with three corners and some long straightaways. It’s pretty simple. If you can get your car to handle properly in one of the turns and not the other two, you’ll finish 35th. Get your car to handle in two of the turns and not the third and you’ll finish 11th. What happens if you can get your car to handle well in all three turns? You win the race.”

Q&A WITH CREW CHIEF HAROLD HOLLY:

YOUR FINISH AT THE MOST RECENT POCONO RACE WASN’T WHAT YOU WANTED, BUT YOU BROUGHT BACK THE SAME CHASSIS. WHY? “We’ve found a lot of new info that we think will improve our performance this time around. It is the same chassis, but we’ve made several modifications to the body. When we took it to the wind tunnel, the numbers that came back blew away the numbers we got from this same chassis the first time around. We’re making baby steps on our mile-and-a-half program, but we are seeing some progress.”

JEFF GREEN’S HISTORY AT POCONO RACEWAY: In 18 starts at Pocono Raceway, Jeff Green’s best starting position was an eighth-place spot, which he secured during qualifying for the July, 1997, event., while driving for team owner Gary Bechtel. Green’s best Pocono finish was a 15th-place result. He actually finished in that position two years in a row, in the July, 2004, and July, 2005, Pocono events, driving a Petty Enterprises entry.

HAAS CNC RACING’S HISTORY AT POCONO RACEWAY: In nine Pocono starts, the No. 66 Haas CNC Racing team’s best qualifying effort was a fifth-place run by driver John Andretti in the July, 2003, race. The team’s best finish was a ninth-place run by driver Mike Bliss in the July, 2005, Pocono event.