Click Here

#27 Kleenex® Stays Out of Trouble at Talladega

Talladega, Alabama (April 30) – Setting a record for the most lead changes in a Busch Series race, along with some of the biggest crashes, this weekend was superspeedway action at it’s best. Tactfully avoiding most of the trouble, the #27 Kleenex®/Scott® products Ford was just one of a handful of cars to finish the race on the lead lap. Unfortunately, the #27 didn’t go unscathed for the entire race. Caught in the middle of a multi-car pile up on lap 82, the Cottonelle® Ford sustained some damage to the front end of the vehicle, and had to settle for a 13^th position finish. 

Qualifying on Thursday, David Green ran a lap time giving him a 27^th position start. “Every year teams are experimenting with new and better ways to run a faster superspeedway time, and sure enough we did a little bit of that,” said Green. “Sometimes you either get the aerodynamics exactly the way you want it, and sometimes you miss the mark completely. We didn’t run as fast as we would have liked, but I think Stewart and the guys have done a really good job in preparing my Cottonelle® Ford. I have no doubt that we’re ready for Saturday.”  

Starting the Aaron’s 312 a few hours late due to rain delays, the excitement only built up more and more for the Busch Series return to Talladega. Right off the drop of the green flag, David Green and teammate Greg Biffle went straight for each other in an effort to draft together. Working collectively as a team, Green had moved up 9 positions to 18^th in the first 15 laps. Just a couple of laps later, lap 17, the red flag waved for a monstrous wreck involving over 15 members of the field. Amidst all of the collisions, not even the team’s spotter, Todd Wilkerson could see if the #27 was involved or not. “David, I can’t see a thing, your going to have to talk to me,” said Todd. “What’s the damage, are you o.k.” “I’m alright,” said David as he drove out of the smoke covered wreckage. “I managed to avoid it, I may need some new tires, but other than that, we made it.”  

Lap 18, the yellow flag waved, and David came in for 4 fresh tires and a refuel. Back on the track in 11^th place for the green flag on lap 22, and with 4 of the series top 5 leaders in points out of the race, it was a frenzy of cars running 3, 4, and sometimes 5 wide to gain front running positions. With teammate Greg Biffle involved in the earlier collision, David found confidence in his brother Mark Green driving the #23 Chevrolet for drafting efforts on lap 27. Together, the #27 Kleenex® Ford Taurus had gained 4 spots to 7^th by lap 31. A few laps later a quick yellow flag was out for debris, and when the green flag waved on lap 37, David Green was in 5^th place. Unfortunately, with brother Mark no longer nearby, and with teammate Biffle out of the race, he was unable to find a dancing partner to keep up front. Quickly losing positions, Green was set all the back to 20^th place on lap 43. Making a charge to regain, David found holes wherever he could to increase speed. On lap 53, he was in 12^th place and the caution came out for another accident. Staying out in the field, Green was now in 6^th place for the green flag on lap 58. Racing for the lead, Green had worked his way all the way up to 3^rd place by lap 61, and once again couldn’t find any drafting help. Losing positions, David was maintaining a 10^th place position on lap 82 when suddenly the caution flag waved. Another wreck had occurred taking more cars out of the race, and Green was unfortunately unable to completely avoid it this time around. Receiving some damage to the front end of the vehicle, Green brought the car into pit road, and the team made the decision to replace the tires, tape up the hood with bare bond, and stay in the race.  

With the majority of the field involved in accidents, the #27 was guaranteed a top 20 just for finishing on the lead lap. Now, the Kleenex®/Scott® products team was striving to make as many gains as they could while racing with a damaged vehicle. On lap 87, Green was back out in 16^th place and he found help in part-time teammate Aaron Fike who was no longer on the lead lap, and wanted to help Kleenex® finish strong. Drafting with Fike, the #27 was able to gain a few positions to 12^th place by lap 95. Ten laps later, the caution was out for yet another accident, and David was in 16^th for the restart on lap 107. Once again with the help of Aaron Fike, David Green and the #27 Kleenex® Ford Taurus were able to earn 3 more positions for the finish of the race, ending in 13^th. 

“I guess considering the personality of the race, we came out ok,” said Green. “As always, this race is better known for staying out of trouble and keeping your nose clean up until the last 20 laps. The way everyone was driving at the start, I knew that it was going to be a matter of time before the “big” one happened. We had some luck on our side by missing all the wrecks up until the one in the tri-oval. When I saw it develop, I thought I was clear of it and then all of the sudden, there came a car off the wall and it took off the nose to my Kleenex® Ford. Up until then, I could go anywhere I wanted, but it seemed like there must have be a “beware/stay away” sign on my back bumper. No one would stick with me to help push me, but that’s just the way it is at restrictor plate racing. My team did a superb job getting the nose piece somewhat reconstructed to finish the race. It’s aggravating, but overall I saw a lot of positives out of the weekend, a good solid racecar, and good pit stops along with answers to a lot of our questions on what we need to do for Daytona coming up in July.”