Talk About Costly Gas
Joliet, IL (July 9) -
This weekend’s USG
Durock 300 was a
roller coaster of
events for the #27
KLEENEX®/SCOTT®
Products team. After
starting in the rear
of the field, David
Green made a steady
charge through
traffic, working his
way all the way up to
13th
place. Unfortunately,
Green’s comeback came
to a screeching halt
when the #27
KLEENEX®/Cub Foods
Taurus ran out of fuel
midway through the
race. On top of that,
Green was penalized
for a pit road
violation which cost
him yet another lap.
The double whammy left
Green with a very
disappointing 30th
place finish.
Team Brewco tested in
Chicago two weeks ago,
and hoped to qualify
up front on a set of
one lap scuff tires.
Green struggled with
handling in the turns
and qualified in 35th
place at 179.188 mph.
Pole sitter Ryan
Newman scorched the
1.5 mile oval at a
speed of 186.438mph.
When the green flag
waved, David Green
said to his crew
chief, Stewart Cooper,
“Stew, the car is
really loose in the
turns. From beginning
to end, I can’t get
down into the
groove.” Even with
the Kleenex®/ Cub
Foods car sliding all
over the track, Green
was able to pick up a
few positions before
the first caution came
out on lap 30. When
Green entered the pits
on lap 31, he was in
28th.
Along with taking on
fuel and four tires,
the #27 crew also made
some drastic changes
to the car set up by
taking out four rounds
of wedge out of the
left of the car and
five out of the
right. Green exited
the pits 29th,
but seemed to have a
better handling car.
The green flag came
out on lap 36 and
Green was still unable
to get the car to turn
through the corners.
He battled to keep his
position until another
timely yellow flag
came out on lap 57.
Green followed the
leaders into the pits
on lap 58, ready to
make some more changes
to the car’s set up.
The crew filled the
fuel cell, changed all
four tires and took
two rounds of wedge
out of the
right-rear. Green
exited the pits 24th
and seemed to have a
well handling car.
When the race
restarted, Green said
to Cooper, “Stew, I
think we’ve found it.
It’s finally getting
into the turns and
holding.” Green
charged his way
through the field,
battling his way up to
13th by lap
130. Green ran out of
gas on lap 131 after
the #27 team
miscalculated how many
laps he could run.
Green coasted into the
pits, loosing valuable
track position. To
make things worse,
NASCAR penalized the
Kleenex®/ Cub Foods
team because their 8th
man over the wall
performed an illegal
procedure. Green had
to drive through the
pits again on the next
lap. The damage had
been done; Green was
now 2 laps down.
After Green had gotten
up to race speed,
Green said to the
team, “Hey guys, those
things happen some
times. Let’s figure
out what happened and
get back in the
race.” The win was
out of reach but
gaining positions was
not. Green finished
the race 30th,
after picking up six
positions.
Green said, “WOW, this
just wasn’t our
weekend. We came into
the weekend thinking
we had a good jump on
the car set up because
of our test session we
had up here two weeks
ago. We really
struggled getting our
car set up the way I
like it. About half
way through the race
we finally got it all
figured out and we
were on the move. We
worked our way all the
way up to 13th
and it seemed we were
going to be in
contention for a
top-10 finish. We
miscalculated our fuel
mileage and we had a
pit member penalty,
which put us two laps
down. Everyone is
going to have days
like this during the
year. We have to
learn from these
mistakes and grow as a
team. If we can do
that, this day will be
worth it in the long
run. I’m confident
our team is going to
bounce back in New
Hampshire next week.”
Media Contact
Bill Virtue
SMC 500
O: 910-692-4600
C: 910-690-9009
bvirtue@smc500.com
