Jeff Green's idea of relaxation involves a gun in the woods. Credit: Autostock

10 Questions: Jeff Green

Jeff Green is like the rest of his NASCAR racing counterparts in that he's craving the comfortable surroundings of home while the Nextel Cup Series races at Lowe's Motor Speedway for the next two weekends.

Jeff Green ranks 25th in the points heading into next weekend's Coca-Cola 600. Credit: Autostock

Inside the Numbers Jeff Green's 2006 results Race Start Finish Status Daytona 21 42 running California 26 24 running Las Vegas 14 18 running Atlanta 39 26 running Bristol 29 15 running Martinsville 34 25 running Texas 4 18 running Phoenix 23 18 running Talladega 39 14 running Richmond 25 18 running Darlington 28 32 running Average 25.6 22.7   JEFF GREEN •   Conversation: Jeff Green •   2006 Statistics •   Driver Standings •   Season-to-Date Box Score

Green is still in the midst of building a solid foundation at Haas CNC Racing, where he drives the No. 66 Chevrolet engineered by crew chief Bootie Barker. They'll contest Saturday night's Nextel Open -- and they hope move on to the Nextel All-Star Challenge.

Green took a break recently to answer 10 questions not necessarily connected to his racing career.

1. What's at the bottom of your "Honey Do" list?

Green: It would have to be something around the house. I've got a shop of my own, so I spend a lot of time there -- and I guess I would probably do just about anything in my shop.

I know that sounds like one strike against me already, back home -- because something around the house? Man, I don't know. It would probably be something to do with cleaning the house up or something like that.

My wife, Michelle, does a great job with that, but something to do with cleaning the house would probably be at the bottom of that list.

2. What is your favorite outdoor activity?

Green: There is no doubt about it that it would be hunting. I enjoy hunting whatever it is we're hunting -- deer, turkeys or whatever. I enjoy racing, don't get me wrong. But the time to relax is probably the most enjoyable time of my life and that's when I'm out in the woods.

3. What's an ideal vacation spot you have not yet visited?

Green: I absolutely would love to do something like the safari that Richard Childress went on recently. Our schedules just don't allow me to do that right now as a driver.

But that is my goal, to go over there [to Africa] and just to see that part of the world, for one thing. But to be able to go over there and hunt elephants and things like that would be a pretty cool opportunity, I think.

I definitely want to do that before I hang my gun up, or put my shoes on the wall -- whatever. That's definitely in my book to do.

4. What is the most embarrassing moment you'll own up to, either in or out of racing?

Green: Oh shoot, I don't know. I've been asked that question several times before, and it would have to be back in 1992. We were running a Busch race at Nazareth.

We had had a lot of motor problems in the weeks prior to this, and with about 10 laps to go, the motor blowed up. But come to find out, we had just run out of gas.

So that was probably the most embarrassing thing, as a driver, that I've had to own up to. I just figured we'd blown the motor up again, but we actually had just run out of gas.

I don't remember where we were running, but we weren't running very good so it wasn't a big deficit to stop early. But it's still pretty embarrassing to have to tell people that.

5. What's your ideal break from the racing grind?

Green: It would probably be just hanging out with my wife and the dogs. We've got two Labradors, so we try to hang out with them.

We try to get up to Lake Norman once a week or once every two weeks, so that's probably the most relaxing way for us to get away from this sport together.

And we do ride the motorcycles quite a bit. They've taken some races away -- Darlington and Rockingham -- and we always rode to those places.

We always ride to Bristol, and we go on the [Kyle Petty] Charity Ride most every year. So yeah, that's pretty relaxing, and you meet a lot of good people doing that.

6. Which show is "must see TV" for you?

Green: It would have to be a hunting show -- probably Michael Waddell's hunting show -- Realtree Road Trips on ESPN2.

	Bootie Barker is the crew chief for Jeff Green's No. 66 Chevrolet. Credit: Autostock
	BOOTIE BARKER •   Shop Talk: Bootie Barker

Any of those Realtree programs or any of the hunting videos or shows that they put on on the Outdoor Channel or the Outdoor Life Channel would be it for me.

The attraction is watching the animals they are going after -- the trophies they are trying to bring home and the adventure that that becomes.

Having been there before, you can put yourself in those situations and you know what they're talking about -- and that is just a relaxing moment. And you never know when you're going to learn something, too.

7. If possible, who would you trade places with, for a day, and why?

Green: Hmm. I don't know. I want to think of doing it with the president, but with all the stuff people are putting him through, I don't know if I want that responsibility -- even for a day -- what's he's responsible for.

But still, I'd just like to see it through his eyes what he goes through on a normal day, what he has to answer and the problems he has to put up with, each and every day. I think that would be pretty cool.

As far as a goal, I don't think you could even touch it in a day. And I wouldn't want to make any decisions, I promise you. I'd just want to see the things that he sees in a day's time.

8. What was your first job, and your most vivid memory of it?

Green: David, Mark and myself all worked for my uncle. He had a concrete plant, and we hauled concrete all across Daviess County, around Owensboro [Ky.].

I just have memories of driving those old back roads in those 60,000-pound concrete trucks, loaded down with concrete and swaying back and forth through those curvy turns, hoping and trying not to turn it over and to make it to the site -- and then to make it back to the plant.

But those were good memories of all those days, going in and working with David and Mark and my uncle Bo.

But when anyone in racing says their car was 'pushing like a truck,' I think that's where it came from. Whoever came up with that term the first time definitely drove a concrete truck -- or something like that.

9. If you could go back in time, what period in history would you like to live in?

Green: I really think, looking at The King Richard Petty's career and to see what he's done, since 1958 or 1960, up through there, it would be pretty cool to have experienced that.

The cars they drove were nothing like what we've got today, and the competition was a lot different, too. So I think that era would be pretty cool to have grown up and raced in -- with [David] Pearson and all those guys, like Cale Yarborough.

To race against those guys would have been neat. I got the opportunity to race against a few guys, like Dale Earnhardt and The King a few times, but Cale Yarborough and those guys -- I never got the opportunity to race against them and that would be pretty cool to race against those people.

10. Who is the most impressive person or celebrity that you've had the opportunity to meet?

Green: Steve Wariner. He's a good friend of mine, and I met him maybe 15 years ago. And where he was in his career, as a country music star or a celebrity, he was just the nicest person you would ever meet.

At the time, he didn't have to sit down or go and eat dinner or call me on the phone -- things like that, keeping in touch.

I think our world needs more of that kind of personality. Our world would be better with more of those kinds of personalities, so I've tried to mold myself and remind myself how easy it would have been for him to just walk away and not make a friend that day.

And I made a friend and hopefully he made a friend, too. With a couple busy schedules, we don't get a chance to get together a lot, but we still talk quite a bit and I see him once or twice a year.

He's a good guy, he makes good music and he's a heckuva guy on a guitar, too.