NASCAR Cup

Michigan II: Jeff Green preview

'Looking For The Luck of The Hills' This weekend, Jeff Green and the ...

Published: Aug 17, 2005, 6:12 PM

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'Looking For The Luck of The Hills'

This weekend, Jeff Green and the #43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge team head to the two-mile Michigan Speedway for Sunday's GFS Marketplace 400. Teams will be making their last 2005 stop at the speedway located in the Irish Hills region. Green and the Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge team finished 38th earlier this season after having a mechanical problem early in the race.

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 Cheerios/Betty Crocker driver Jeff Green heading into Michigan:

"If you see a bunch of guys in Cheerios shirts chasing tiny little people around the Irish Hills this weekend, it's us looking for leprechauns. No pots of gold here . . . we just need to turn our luck around. It's almost amazing how much bad luck we've run into this season. We had a really good Cheerios Dodge the first time at Michigan, only to have a mechanical problem knock us out of contention. It has been the little things like that keeping us away from better finishes. We just need to figure out how to put an entire day together and stay away from that bad luck.

"I don't know. Maybe we can grab some of that luck in the Irish Hills of Michigan. I guess I'll have to drive around the area and just soak in some of that good fortune. It's funny. If you're running into bad luck you will do just about anything to get it turned around.

"We can make our own luck too. We have shown at times this season that we have all the tools to be competitive and run up front. It all starts on Friday and qualifying. We need to qualify well and be in position to have a good race on Sunday. We don't want to be in the back and lose all the track position right at the start of the race - especially at a track like Michigan. These races have become so much about track position that every spot is critical. It's a lot easier to start up front than it is to fight from the back. We want a good qualifying run on Friday, knowing that will pay off on Sunday.

"The races that we have been fairly decent in this season we've just had some unbelievable things go wrong. This track in June we were really strong. We were fast, and I think we had a top 10 or better car. We came down pit road, dropped the car off the jack, and we lost the back end of it. It was something that happens, maybe, once every few seasons. We then had to work the rest of the day getting the best finish possible. It was another situation where the result didn't reflect how good the car was. We have had a few of those this season.

"Hopefully this Sunday we'll have a good run and stay away from the demons that have bothered us. If we can just stay away from the bad luck we'll be alright. We can make our own good luck, but we can't hide from the other things that happen. It gets frustrating, but the guys on my team are great. They keep working hard too. They want to win just as bad as I do. That really keeps us going.

"I've been around this sport long enough to know that we are going to have good days and bad days. That's something that you learn after being in racing for a long time. You just have to ride the rollercoaster. I've got a great team and we'll get this Cheerios team to the top of the ride. The Irish Hills of Michigan is a great place to start getting some better luck."

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