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Green Scores Another Top-Five

St. Louis, MO (July 30, 2005) - After last week’s win at Pikes Peak International Raceway, David Green felt like the king of the mountain.  His #27 Kleenex team came into Gateway International Speedway hoping to keep him on top.  Green had everything shaping up for a repeat performance in the Wallace Family Tribute 250, but ended up falling just short of back-to-back wins.  Still, Green’s performance marked his second top-five in as many weeks.

Green qualified the Kleenex/Aldi Ford in the 12^th position, but moved up one spot after an engine switch relegated Carl Edwards to the back of the pack.  “We’ve tried some new things with our qualifying package at the last few races,” said Green.  “They’ve really seemed to make a difference.  We’ve started a lot closer to the front, and that’s going to be so important here.  It makes your day a lot easier if you’re racing in the top-10 when the green flag drops.”

When the green flag dropped, Green came out of the gates in a hurry, climbing to 6^th place by lap 10.  He was gaining on the leaders until the caution came out on lap 16.  Green said to his Crew Chief, Stewart Cooper, “The car is great.  I think we can work on the front end a little bit.  The bump in turn three and four is really a problem.”  When the green flag came out on lap 21, Green held his position until another caution came out on lap 31.  Green entered the pits saying, “Stew, let’s work on it a little, but let’s not make any huge adjustments.”  The #27 Kleenex®/Aldi team put together a 15 second pit stop.  Green was back on the track with ¼ of a round out of the track bar, four sticker tires and a full tank of gas.  Several teams opted not to pit, which put Green in 13^th place when he rejoined the field.

When the green flag waved on lap 36, Green used his four fresh tires to make his way through the field.  He cracked into the top-10 on lap 39 and was able to pick up one more position before the yellow flag came out for a third time.  Cooper decided to make a fuel only stop.  While in the pits, Cooper opted to put two rounds into the track bar.  Green exited the pits 5^th.

The race resumed on lap 71. Green had his sights set on the leaders, but the # 27 machine wasn’t handling the same as it was earlier.  Green said, “I’m loosing the nose in the turns.”  Green slid to 10^th place while waiting for his crew to get a chance to adjust on his ill-handling vehicle.  Under the next caution period, Cooper called for two more rounds into the track bar to fix the tight condition.  Along with making the adjustments to the car, the crew put on four sticker tires and filled the tank with gas.  Once again, there were several cars that didn’t pit during the caution period which left Green in 16^th place for the restart.

The green flag came out on lap 96.  Green shot through the field like a rocket, moving up to the 8^th position before the caution came out on lap 136.  He came into the pits for the last time, hoping to get the car set up perfect for a final charge.  The crew gave Green four fresh tires, fuel and added another round of wedge to the #27 Taurus.  Green exited the pits 11^th, which marked his last time outside the top-10.  Back under green, Green pedaled his way into 4^th place, when a late-race caution came out, bunching up the field for one final shootout.  The caution lasted until lap 197 and the race for the win was on.  Green battled with the 2^nd and 3^rd place cars but didn’t have enough time to get around them.  Green said, “If I had another two or three laps, I could have gotten past those two cars.  Reid (Sorenson, race winner) is another story.”  Green finished the race 4^th, posting his second top-five in a row.

Green said, “I wish we could have gotten another win, but I can’t complain about another top-five.  We have had such bad luck this year, I hope we can keep this trend going.  All teams have ups and downs during the year, I just hope we have enough time to get back in contention for the Series Championship.  Stewart (Cooper) and the team work so hard. I’m glad I could show them my thanks by getting the car in the top-five again.  We are taking the same car to IRP next week, so I’m pretty confident we will be in contention for the win.” 

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Bill Virtue

SMC 500

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