After firing, Green hopes to rebound at Charlotte

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. -- Jeff Green will reunite with his former championship crew chief to try to win his third straight CARQUEST Auto Parts 300 at Lowe's Motor Speedway later this month.

The option came open under trying circumstances for Green, the 2000 NASCAR Busch Series champion who was fired Monday as the driver of Richard Childress Racing's No. 30 AOL Chevrolet in the Winston Cup Series.

Green and Harold Holly, who combined for one of the all-time dominant Busch Series championship winning performances in 2000 -- with six wins, 25 top-fives and 27 top-10s in 32 races -- will race a car for Team Amick Motorsports at Lowe's Motor Speedway on May 24.

The pair won 13 races in three seasons together at ppc Racing and had 56 top-five and 72 top-10 finishes along with 13 Bud Poles in 96 races.

"Harold is working over at Bill Amick's and they've got some awesome motors," Green said Monday evening. "Harold has got a brand new hot rod for me to drive and I'm looking forward to that.

"I'm looking forward to working with Harold again because he pays attention to detail and that's the difference between winning and losing in this game. He does a great job in the aero department so it's exciting (because) he understands me.

"I hope he hasn't forgotten about me because it's been a couple of years. I would love to run more Busch races even if I got something going on the Cup side."

	Green finished the 2002 season with 4 top five finishes. Credit: Autostock

The deal with team owner Amick, who has a great reputation as a Busch Series engine supplier, was a ray of sunshine for Green, who struggled to find a feel at RCR similar to what he had known at ppc.

"I don't know if it's the latest step in a great, big chemistry experiment at RCR," Green said, chuckling, of his demise. "I think all of us have tried to do the best job we could, to win races, and I've tried to do the darnedest job I could in the seat.

"Things just got in our way to be able to reach our goals, and I guess Richard wanted to make a change. It's very surprising (because) we've had some good moments, but we had some bad ones, too, and it was time to try something different."

Green said he wasn't sure what the issue was at RCR, which in the last two seasons has done some major shuffling among its personnel trying to find the best balance. Green was the first employee to be removed from the teams.

"I don't think the drivers are the problem why they're not winning and I don't think it's the crew chiefs," Green said. "It's not any body else -- it's just a combination of everything and competition is tough.

"I'm lucky to be friends with Matt Kenseth and they've got great teams over there at Roush (Racing) so it can happen. Richard's doing all he can do -- he's used to winning, too and RCR is a winning organization so there's no sense to getting used to anything else if you can help it."

An RCR spokesperson said the team had until The Winston weekend, May 16-17 at Lowe's Motor Speedway, to settle on a driver. Green isn't sitting still, either, as his deal with Holly displayed.

"Richard and all that organization's used to winning and so am I," Green said. "So hopefully we can make it work somewhere else with some other organization."

He acknowledged his frustration at having his potential season best finish eliminated when teammate Kevin Harvick ran into him from behind after 267 of 400 laps in the Pontiac Excitement 400 at Richmond International Raceway.

He said he'd had no indication his job was in jeopardy, prior to the blow-up after that wreck, in which he confronted Harvick on the race track while his teammate circulated under caution, then went to the pits to berate Harvick's crew chief Todd Berrier.

Green had a discussion -- for a matter of seconds -- with Childress after climbing off Berrier's pit cart.

"Everything happens for a reason and I'm not questioning that at all," Green said. "Hopefully the next step will be, maybe not better but we'll be able to have success."

Green had two Bud Poles for Childress, including this year's Daytona 500, but had only four top-five and eight top-10 finishes in 55 starts since 2001.

"RCR was great for me," Green said. "They gave me an opportunity to win a couple Busch races for them last year and I had a great time there, and I had a good time for the AOL bunch and hopefully that hasn't gone away for me."

Green said he had not had a chance to talk with Harvick since Saturday night -- at least not on the level that he expected.

"No, I guess he does all his talking with his bumper, I don't know," Green said, chuckling again. "Any time that I've got into somebody and was sorry for it I've tried to call them and at least give them an opportunity to hear their side of it.

"I don't know -- I guess that's just part of it. I've had some good teammates in the past that I enjoyed being around and I enjoyed being around Kevin and Robby (Gordon). It's not like they're going anywhere and hopefully we'll be racing together soon and not miss a beat -- just a little bit different perspective."

Green said he was sensitive to the issue surrounding the concern over Jerry Nadeau's recovery after his serious crash last Friday during practice at Richmond, which leaves MB2 Motorsports and its general manager, Jay Frye in need of a driver at least for the short term.

However, he said he would be working the phones, as well.

"I'm not going to sit back and wait for them to call me (because) everybody knows about it, now," Green said. "I've already talked to a few people and I would love to drive for Jay and those guys over there would be a great opportunity -- to be associated with the U.S. Army would be pretty awesome.

"But we're all thinking about Jerry and I don't want to overshadow what he's got going on in the next no-telling how long to get back to where he needs to be.

"Winston Cup is tough and I think I can get it done with the best of them if I get up there and get the right opportunity. I think I was earning respect there and with the AOL car it was a great opportunity to race with those guys and I hope it leads to something next year, if not for the balance of this season."