Going online: Jeff Green gets AOL Cup ride

By Dave Rodman, Turner Sports Interactive
March 31, 2001
4:55 PM EST (2155 GMT)

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Richard Childress Racing Saturday named 2000 NASCAR Busch Series champion Jeff Green as the driver for the No. 30 America Online NASCAR Winston Cup team for a limited schedule this season.

The No. 30 RCR Chevrolet.

Green, 38, of Owensboro, Ky., will debut the No. 30 America Online Chevrolet Monte Carlo at California Speedway on April 29.

He is also scheduled to compete at Dover Downs International Speedway (June 3), Chicagoland Speedway (July 15), Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Aug. 5), Bristol Motor Speedway (Aug. 25), Richmond International Raceway (Sept. 8) and Lowe's Motor Speedway (Oct. 7).

Team owner Richard Childress said plans for the 2002 season and beyond will be forthcoming.

"Jeff brings a lot of positives to the No. 30 America Online program so I know he'll be a great fit for the team," Childress said. "He's a proven winner and champion in the Busch Series and has already tasted success in Winston Cup. His hard-charging, yet smooth style is exactly what we need to make the program successful right off the bat."

This is not Green's first step into Winston Cup, having run 46 races from 1996 through 1998. He has earned two top-10 finishes in the series, a seventh at California Speedway (6/22/97) and a fourth at Atlanta Motor Speedway (11/16/97).

Green ran 43 NASCAR Busch Series races from 1990-1994 before getting his first full-season ride in 1995 for Dale Earnhardt Inc. He ran two seasons for DEI and overall has earned 11 victories, 16 poles, 63 top-5 and 89 top-10 finishes in the series.

Green, who dominated last year's Busch Series, currently drives in the series for ppc Racing.

"It's an honor for someone like Richard Childress to ask me to drive one of his race cars," said Green, who has long professed it would take an extremely good deal for him to consider leaving ppc and crew chief Harold Holly. "I guess it's a credit to my ability and my race team's for what we've done over the last couple of years that people are noticing what we've been doing.

"The NASCAR Winston Cup Series was competitive when I ran it a few years ago and it's probably even more so now."

The No. 30 America Online program was originally announced last February with Kevin Harvick -- one of Childress' Busch Series drivers and the current series point leader -- as the driver.

Green replaces Harvick, who moved to the RCR No. 29 GM Goodwrench Service Plus Team at the end of February, stepping into the late Dale Earnhardt's seat in that car, formerly the No. 3.

"We are extremely pleased to have Jeff Green as the driver for the No. 30 America Online program," said Eddie Leonard, America Online's vice president of Brand Marketing. "He has already earned a Busch Series championship and I am confident that his return to the NASCAR Winston Cup Series will be a triumphant one.

"It is great for AOL members to see a driver like Jeff in our NASCAR Winston Cup program."