Jeff Green: Pocono 500 preview

The thoughts of No. 43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge driver Jeff Green heading into Pocono:

"You have to figure out Pocono before you can ever be good there. It's such a differently-shaped track and configuration than what we are used to running. It's not quite a road course and it's not really an oval, but it has a bunch of both characteristics to it. The track is so unique. It is completely different from any other track.

"You're shifting at Pocono, and it's very rare that we have to do that if we're not at a road course. As a driver you actually have to 'drive' Pocono. Most tracks it's the same thing every lap, but every lap and every turn at Pocono is different. You're always trying to figure out the best way to get around there, but it's hard to do the same thing every lap. You have to take what the car gives you.

"A good handling car is crucial to have. I don't know if you're ever going to be perfect around all three turns, but if you're good through two of three then you're not doing that bad. The car has to be good all race or you're going to struggle. I've been really proud of this Cheerios team this season with the cars they have given me. They have been great handling cars and we're getting the most out of them. Gary (Putnam, crew chief) and I have really communicated well with each other. He's a very talented crew chief and he understands what I need. Our chemistry together has been really developed all season, and it's good to know that we can trust each other - especially when we're trying to set up a car at a track as tricky as Pocono.

"We'll see what we have when we get there on Friday. Our qualifying package this season has been awesome. We've been right on track when it comes to qualifying. We have been starting up front and we're racing strong, but we're still looking for some of the results to show for it. We've had some bad luck, but we're still working on getting things better ourselves. We're pretty close and we've done a lot of good things so far this season.

"This summer stretch is pretty important. We do a lot of racing on a lot of different tracks. Starting last weekend at Dover, to here in Pocono, then to Michigan and then the road course in Sears Point - the month of June we are racing a lot of diverse tracks. We are going to have to be ready with all our cars and equipment for good runs. We really want to put together a string of good runs so we can start to build off that. We've done it with our qualifying package, and now we want to try and duplicate that success on race day.

"We want to have a good race at Pocono. I've had some good runs there, and I have had others where maybe we could have been better. This is our first time together at Pocono with this No. 43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker team. I have a lot of confidence in this team that we'll have a good car and a good run this weekend."